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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 







ANDY BLAKE 
IN ADVERTISING 










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A V I N S f '-H ' x » ** * A- -f' llglAR V' V-> \ 0 


HE GAVE A HASTY GLANCE AT THE SHEAF OF MATERIAL 

IN ANDY’S HAND 


[page 270] 



ANDY BLAKE 
IN ADVERTISING 

BY 

EDWARD EDSON LEE 



D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
NEW YORK : : 1922 : : LONDON 



COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 






Copyright, 1922 , by The Sprague Publishing Company 

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


SEP 1 9 1922 

©CI.A683272 
/ Vvs> j 



ANDY BLAKE 
IN ADVERTISING 



ANDY BLAKE 
IN ADVERTISING 

CHAPTER I 

Summer came down the peaceful valley and 
with kindly warmth gladdened the fields and 
gardens made green and hardy by the magic 
touch of spring. It entered the hearts of men 
and women, and the hearts of youth, bringing 
laughter and contentment. It built up thoughts 
of things worth struggling for and simultane- 
ously fanned the fires of optimism and deter- 
mination. 

Andy Blake was conscious of the lure of sum- 
mer; and to release the joy that swelled in his 
heart he merrily whistled the final measures of 
“How you going to keep them down on the 
farm?” as the motor delivery wagon that he was 
driving rattled along Cressfield’s main street. 
Having completed his last delivery trip for the 
day he was in high feather. Soon he would be 
1 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


headed for home. At the thought of supper he 
became keenly alive to an emptiness in the region 
of his stomach and opened the throttle another 
notch. 

“Good night ! From the way this old bus rat- 
tles and squeaks any one would think she was 
all ready to kick in,” he grinned, slowing up 
for the alley crossing back of the Landers gen- 
eral store. As he clattered across the sidewalk 
a boy of the same age raced up from behind and 
swung on. 

“Hello, Chuck,” greeted Andy, making room 
on the seat for the newcomer. 

“Hello, yourself,” puffed Chuck Wilson. 
“Say, who do you think you are? — Barney Old- 
field?” 

“I was only going twenty,” grinned Andy. 

“You mean forty,” sputtered Chuck. 

“Guess you don’t know this old bus very 
well,” returned Andy. “She sounds a whole lot 
faster than she really is.” 

The car seemed to groan in every one of its 
rather wobbly joints as Andy applied the brakes. 
He was about to jump down and open the garage 
door, with a view of putting the car away for 
the night, when Denny Landers, the good-na- 
2 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


tured Irish proprietor, poked his red-thatched 
head out of the back door of the store and 
called : 

“Hey, Andy ! Don’t put the old bus away yet. 
Sure, Mrs. Charley Corey — the divil take her ! — 
has just ’phoned in another hurry-up order. 
She says it’s things she’s got to have to-night. 
Here’s a slip with the items marked down. Bet- 
ter come in and git the stuff ready. I’d have 
Miss Cummins do it but she’s busy in the dry 
goods.” 

Andy’s face was stormy as he accepted the 
slip. When Landers was out of sight he turned 
to Chuck and growled: 

“Darn the Coreys, anyhow! Just because 
they’re the richest people in town and live on the 
hill they think they can snap their fingers when- 
ever they please and make other people jump 
around like a lot of trained monkeys.” 

A grin spread over Chuck’s face, setting off 
the freckles that spotted his red nose. His 
eyes twinkled mischievously. 

“Why don’t you quit your job if you don’t 
like it?” 

“I like my job all right; but I don’t like the 
idea of making a special trip to the hill every 
3 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


afternoon just about quitting time. Guess it 
wouldn’t hurt Mrs. Corey to get her orders in 
on time like other people. Take it from me 
I’m glad all rich people aren’t as bossy as the 
Coreys.” 

“Well, when you get rich, you can show us 
how to act,” teased Chuck. 

“Aw, shut up, you turkey egg,” retorted Andy, 
disappearing into the store. 

Chuck followed him to the door. 

“Hey, Andy, I’ll wait and go with you if you 
want me to.” » 

“All right,” Andy called back, somewhat mol- 
lified. 

While he was putting up Mrs. Corey’s order, 
a salesman bustled into the store and attempted 
to attract the attention of the busy proprietor. 

“Sure, it’s a divil of a fine salesman you are 
to come bobbin’ in here the busiest hour of the 
day,” grinned Denny Landers. “Shall we talk 
business and let the people wait on themselves? 
Or would you mind makin’ yourself to home on 
that box over there till the rush is over?” 

The salesman laughed and set his cases to one 
side. 

“I tell you what I’ll do,” said he, his eyes 
4 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


sparkling boyishly. “Say the word and 111 
jump right in and help you out. Selling gro- 
ceries is ‘pie’ for me. Oh, boy, this is just like 
old times,” as he yanked off his coat and rolled 
up his sleeves. In a moment he was behind the 
counter offering his services to one of the cus- 
tomers. For possibly an instant Denny Lan- 
ders looked surprised ; then returned to his work 
with a broad grin. 

“He’s a real fellow,” Andy decided. “Say, 
boy, he’s got a lot of snap ! And he isn’t afraid 
of getting his hands dirty. The boss is tickled 
over what he’s doing and that ought to make it 
easier for him to get an order.” It came to Andy 
then that salesmanship, after all, is largely a 
matter of service. He could plainly see that 
the self-appointed grocery clerk was rendering 
his prospective customer a service that was 
bound to create a friendly interest in his goods. 

Andy sidled along back of the counter until 
he was beside the fellow. 

“I hope you make a sale,” he encouraged, his 
eyes expressing frank admiration. 

The man flashed him an answering smile as he 
dived into the sugar barrel. 

5 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Thanks, kid” Then, after a moment: “Do 
you have much of a call for ribbon goods?” 

“Guess so. I don’t know a great deal about 
the dry goods, though. That’s Miss Cummins’ 
job. I’m on the delivery wagon mostly. Are 
you selling ribbons?” 

“Yep. That’s my line. I see you handle 
pretty nearly everything in this store,” glancing 
around at the crowded shelves. Denny Landers 
was not the most orderly storekeeper in the 
world. 

Andy grinned. 

“We handle everything from peanuts to wash- 
ing machines,” he said. “This is the biggest 
store in Cressfield.” 

“So I noticed. Been working here long?” 

“Started about four years ago, when I was 
thirteen. During school I only work mornings 
and evenings.” 

By the time Andy had Mrs. Corey’s order 
ready it was nearly six o’clock. 

“W r e’ll make it snappy,” he said to Chuck, as 
he positioned the spark lever and cranked the 
motor. 

The delivery wagon clattered down Main 
Street, passing a group of barefooted boys who 
6 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


were kicking along in the dust on their way back 
to town after a hilarious afternoon at the swim- 
ming hole. 

“Hi, Andy,” one of the boys shouted, waving 
his tattered straw hat. 

“Give us a ride, Andy. Aw, come on.” 

“Toss us something good to eat, Andy.” 

The leader of the gang, a grimy-faced boy 
with mischief sparkling in his black eyes, 
jumped onto a horse block and yelled : 

“Advertising Andy! The billboard king!” 

“You loafers! Take it from me you have it 
pretty soft,” was Andy’s friendly rejoinder as 
he and Chuck rattled past. 

Chuck grinned. 

“Guess they’ve got your measure all right on 
this advertising stuff. You and Bud York ought 
to go into partnership and write ads for peo- 
ple.” 

“Maybe we will one of these fine days,” re- 
turned Andy thoughtfully. “Bud’s pretty 
handy at drawing pictures. We ought to make 
a good team.” 

“Yes, you and Bud make a good pair,” de- 
clared Chuck. “He’s forever daubing around 
with paints at his father’s printing office and 
7 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


you stay home nights and study advertising 
books. Miss Dick, at the public library, says 
you can smell a new book on advertising or 
salesmanship before she gets it unpacked. What 
are you going to do when you’ve read all her 
books?” 

“By that time I ought to know enough about 
advertising to get a job in the advertising de- 
partment of some company. Oh, boy, I’ll be 
happy when that time comes ! It must be great 
to be able to get up ads like you see in the maga- 
zines. A fellow’s got to know how to go about 
doing it, too. It isn’t easy. The books I’ve 
been reading tell about advertising and selling 
campaigns, and how to write ‘copy’ and plan 
‘display,’ and how to make people want to buy 
what you’ve got to sell, and everything.” 

“It sounds like a grind,” yawned Chuck, cock- 
ing his feet on the dash. “Guess I’d rather read 
a ‘High Benton’ story.” 

Andy turned in at the most imposing house on 
the hill. A boy was knocking a tennis ball about 
in the court between the house and the drive. 
He stopped to look sullenly and contemptuously 
at the boys, on the rattling delivery car. 

8 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Hello, sugar-monkey !” he sneered as Andy 
drove past. “How much are prunes to-day?” 

“We’re out of prunes, but we’ve got a few 
dog biscuits,” retorted Andy. “How many can 
you gobble down at a meal?” 

“Hurrah !” cheered Chuck. “You sure handed 
him a hot one that time, Andy, old kid.” 

Clarence Corey reddened. 

“You fat-head! You better learn to keep a 
civil tongue in your head or I’ll teach you some- 
thing about manners.” 

“You can’t teach what you don’t know,” flared 
Andy. 

Burning with indignation he delivered his 
groceries at the kitchen door. As he hopped 
down the steps of the back porch he saw Clar- 
ence rounding the corner, gripping the tennis 
racket menacingly. 

“Keep an eye on him, Andy,” cautioned 
Chuck. “He’d swat you in a minute if he dared. 
Just because his Dad is an old geezer of a bank 
president and a church deacon, that stuck-up 
kid thinks he can get away with murder.” 

“If I were Mother I’d quit trading at Landers’ 
store till he saw fit to hire decent people,” 
snapped Clarence darkly. He watched his 
9 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


chance and threw the tennis racket, striking 
Andy on the head as he turned to climb into the 
delivery wagon. “I guess that’ll teach you to 
be more polite to your superiors,” he jeered. 

For a moment Andy was dazed by the blow; 
then he started forward with a cry of rage. 

“You — you — ” he stammered, beside himself 
with fury. 

“Go on, get out of here, you common truck 
peddler! When we want your kind on the hill 
we’ll invite you. And take your trashy gang 
with you.” 

“Say, who are you calling ‘trash’?” yelled 
Chuck, scrambling out of the delivery wagon 
with clenched fists. 

“Leave him to me, Chuck,” gritted Andy. His 
quick eye lighted on the lawn hose. Like a flash 
he grabbed the hose and, turning the nozzle 
wide open, permitted a stream of cold water to 
play on the surprised and infuriated Clarence. 

“Hey ! Stop that !” yelled Clarence, trying to 
shield himself by holding his hands, palms out- 
ward, in front of him. “You — you lowborn 
puppy. If you don’t drop that hose I’ll have 
my father put you in jail.” 

10 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Soak it to him good, Andy,” yelled Chuck, 
wild with delight. 

“This isn’t half what you deserve,” gritted 
Andy, directing the stream so that Clarence in 
his white duck trousers and sport shirt was 
given a thorough drenching. “I ought to take 
you down and pound the daylights out of you. 
Call me sugar-monkey, will you?” 

“Help! Mother! Help!” screamed Clarence. 
There was an answering cry from the direction 
of the house and Andy turned to see an angry 
woman flying down the steps. 

“How dare you play such a wretched trick 
on my son?” demanded Mrs. Corey. 

“He’s always picking on me, Ma,” whined 
Clarence, his teeth chattering. 

“He started it,” declared Andy stoutly, drop- 
ping the hose. “He called me sugar-monkey 
just because I work in a grocery store, and he 
hit me — ” 

“He’s lying, Ma, I didn’t do a thing. He just 
up and turned the hose on me.” 

“When Mr. Corey returns I shall have him re- 
port you to Mr. Landers,” threatened Mrs. 
Corey. Andy tried again to explain, but Mrs. 
Corey turned indignantly away and listened 
11 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

sympathetically to a highly colored version of 
the incident from Clarence. 

Andy jumped into the delivery wagon and 
hurriedly drove out of the yard and down the 
hill. 

“Some mess,” he said gloomily, wondering 
how far Mrs. Corey could go in making trouble 
for him. 

Chuck regarded him anxiously. 

“Think she’ll get you canned?” he inquired. 

“Like as not. I guess if she threatened to 
trade somewhere else if Landers didn’t fire me 
he’d do it. Darn it! I wish I had held my 
temper.” 

On arriving at the store Andy found it empty 
except for Denny Landers and the ribbon sales- 
man. It was evident that the latter had just 
signed up the proprietor for an order of rib- 
bons for early delivery. 

“I’m a thousand times obliged to you, Mr. 
Landers,” thanked the salesman, pocketing the 
order and gathering his samples together. He 
shot a smile at Andy. “That’s a pretty fine boy 
you’ve got there.” 

A grin spread over the face of the good-na- 
tured proprietor and he nodded his head. 

12 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“Sure, you’ve said a mouthful. Andy’s a 
humdinger — the best boy I ever had in the store. 
A diyil of a time I’d have runnin’ the store if it 
wasn’t for Andy. Eh, lad?” 

Something seemed to bob up in Andy’s throat, 
choking him. Kind-hearted by nature and re- 
sponsive to kindness, he had the miserable feel- 
ing that he had betrayed the confidence of his 
employer by permitting his temper to get the 
better of his judgment. 

Denny Landers placed his rough hand in a 
kindly way on Andy’s shoulder. 

“What the divil’s eatin’ you, lad? Sure, you 
look as though you’ve lost your best friend.” 

Andy was utterly miserable but managed to 
tell his story. Contrary to his expectations 
Denny Landers did not appear particularly con- 
cerned. 

“There, there, lad! Forget it! Sure, it’s be- 
lievin’ you I am that the young ape of a Clarence 
Corey — bad luck to his tribe! — is deservin’ of 
the very excellent duckin’ you gave him. And if 
his old man comes beefin’ around here I’ll give 
him an earful. But on the other hand, Andy, 
sure, you better be danged careful in the future. 
It’s a divil of a lot of trouble you can cause me 
13 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

if you go around duckin’ me best customers. I’d 
suggest that you do your scrappin’ outside of 
business.” 

Chuck was waiting outside. Andy told him 
what had happened in the store and the two 
boys hurried down the street. At the corner 
they overtook the ribbon salesman, who grinned 
at Andy in a friendly way. 

“If you ever get tired of living in a little town 
and want to come to the city I’ll get you a job 
on the fire department — seeing as you’re such 
a good hand at managing the hose,” he joked. 

“Some time I’m coming to the city, but when 
I do I’m not going to be a fireman,” returned 
Andy. 

“No?” 

“He’s going to be a billboard king,” put in 
Chuck with a grin. 

“What?” 

“A billboard king. One of these advertising 
ginks.” 

The salesman laughed heartily. 

“An advertising man, eh? That’s fine!” He 
turned to Andy. “Are you studying advertis- 
ing?” 

Andy explained about the books. 

14 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“I don’t know much about advertising but I 
just want to be an advertising man the worst 
way,” he said. 

“Advertising is a fine business,” encouraged 
the salesman. “You can’t make a mistake by 
learning all you can about it. Pretty nearly 
every business has its advertising problems. I 
imagine you can get a lot of good dope from 
books; but, of course, it’s practical experience 
that counts. What you want to do is to stick 
to your books and when you’ve covered the sub- 
ject in that way get a job in the advertising 
department of some good company. You’ll 
probably have to start in a small way, but if 
you’ve got the right kind of stuff in you — and I 
believe you have — you’ll make good.” 

Andy’s eyes sparkled. 

“Some day I want to be the advertising man- 
ager of a big company,” he confided. 

“That’s the way to talk. But to do that 
you’ve got to dig . Things don’t come easy in 
this world — the worth-while things, I mean. 
You’ll need a good practical education, too, so 
don’t get any foolish ideas in your head about 
quitting school. And even when you go to the 
city and take up real work, you better scout 
15 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


around and see if you can locate a night school. 
Go to the Y.M.C.A. secretary; he’ll get you 
started in the right direction. 

“By the way, I have a little book in my bag 
that may interest you. It’s mostly about sell- 
ing ribbons — how to put on special sales, and 
so on. It’s got a lot of good dope in it.” Open- 
ing his grip he produced the book and handed 
it to Andy, who thanked him. “Oh, you needn’t 
spread yourself on the ‘thanks’ business. I’m 
glad to let you have the book. And I hope that 
one of these days you’ll be advertising manager 
of one of the biggest corporations in the world. 
Here’s where I turn for the depot. Well, 
good-by, boys.” 


CHAPTER II 


Andy Blake had lived in Cressfield all his 
life; and always, as far back as he could re- 
member, he had shared with his mother the little 
vine-covered cottage that now came into view 
as he turned from Main Street into Channery 
Court. 

One of Andy’s earliest recollections was the 
whir of his mother’s sewing machine. The 
flashing nickeled parts, the thump! thump! of 
the treadle, the flopping of the belt spelt action 
to his receptive mind and fascinated him. He 
liked to be near to watch. As he grew older 
he came to know r the vital part this sewing ma- 
chine played in the simple life of the little fam- 
ily, and with the knowledge a determination 
grew up within him to get a job, not beyond the 
strength of a small boy, so that he would be 
earning some money and thereby shorten the 
hours of his mother’s daily toil. 

Andy had no recollection of his father. Mrs. 
Blake rarely spoke of her husband, and the boy 
17 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


sensed, as he grew older, that his mother’s life 
had not been wholly happy. His father, it seems, 
had been by nature a rover, always uneasily 
conscious of the greener grass on the more dis- 
tant hill. It was his life insurance that had 
paid for the little cottage a few months before 
Andy was born. 

Mrs. Blake was in the front yard gathering a 
bouquet when Andy reached home. She smiled 
happily when he dashed through the gate and 
up the walk. 

“I’ll bet you’re as hungry as a bear,” she said, 
running her fingers through his curly hair. 

“I’ll say I’m hungry,” returned Andy. With 
an arm about his mother’s waist he kept step 
with her until they reached the kitchen door. 
“Something smells awfully good,” he sniffed. 

“Pshaw! You brag of my cooking so often 
it’s getting to be a habit,” joked his mother. 

“As though you aren’t the best cook and the 
bulliest mother in the whole town,” returned 
Andy proudly. 

Two days later Andy hauled a couple of big 
boxes from the freight house to the store and 
when he opened the boxes he was astonished to 
find that they were both filled with rolls of rib- 
18 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


bon. There seemed to be hundreds of the rolls, 
of many colors and widths. He could not un- 
derstand why his employer had purchased such 
an enormous quantity of the material. 

“What the divil — ” exclaimed Denny Landers 
when Andy called his attention to the contents 
of the boxes. “Sure, am I dreamin’ or is it 
ribbons I see by the millions of yards? Divil 
take the man who says I ordered all these rib- 
bons. Wait a minute, Andy, while I take a 
peek at the order.” A moment later he re- 
turned with a copy of the order the salesman 
had left with him. His face was the picture of 
dismay. “Sure, Andy, it’s a big mistake I’ve 
made. The order calls for rolls and it ought to 
be yards. There’s more stuff here than we can 
sell in two years. Sure, we’ll send the whole 
shootin’-match back to the wholesale house and 
have them send on another shipment. That’ll 
be easier than tryin’ to pick out what we need 
and checkin’ up everything.” 

Andy knew very little about ribbons but he 
was impressed by the beauty of the material in 
the two boxes. He unrolled a few feet from 
several of the spools and let the ribbons dangle 
over his coat sleeves. 


19 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“ Jingo! Aren’t they pretty, though? And 
wouldn’t the girls go crazy over the stuff? I 
wonder — ” The thought that flashed into his 
mind caused him to catch his breath. 

“Gee-miny ! Why can’t we have a ribbon sale? 
That would be better than sending the stuff 
back. I could fix up an ad for the Gazette ; and 
we could have a ribbon display in the window 
just like it tells about in the little book the 
salesman gave me.” 

When Denny Landers heard Andy’s propose 
tion he scratched his head thoughtfully. 

“Sure, Andy, do you think we can do it?” 

“I’m sure we can, Mr. Landers,” assured Andy 
enthusiastically. “You know how everybody 
reads the Gazette ; and if we fix up an ad telling 
about the ribbons, and have some on display in 
the window, we’ll have every woman and girl 
in town wanting to buy them.” 

“It’s a divil of a lot I don’t know about ad- 
vertising, Andy.” 

“Oh, I’ll do that, Mr. Landers. I want to do 
it. I’m just tickled to death to get the chance. 
And I’ll get Chuck Wilson to help me on the 
window and Bud York and I’ll work out a 
blinger of an ad for the newspaper.” 

20 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Denny Landers smiled whimsically. 

“Sure, it’s a bug you are on this advertising 
stuff, I see. Advertising Andy ! Well, lad, pitch 
in. I’m willin’ to take a whirl at it if you fix 
up the advertising. And what we don’t sell 
we’ll send back.” 

It was plain that Landers had no great meas- 
ure of confidence in the possible success of 
Andy’s proposed sale. He had built up his busi- 
ness by dint of hard work and long hours. No 
one had tried to show him how he could use ad- 
vertising to increase sales or give prestige to his 
business. In fact he knew very little about ad- 
vertising, except as it came to his attention in a 
casual way. 

That night after supper Andy pocketed his 
ribbon book and hurried down to the Gazette 
office to tell his friend Bud York about the 
scheme. Bud’s father was editor and manager 
of Cressfield’s weekly newspaper, and as Bud 
frequently helped his father set type for the ad- 
vertisements that appeared in the newspaper, 
Andy figured that he would be able to offer some 
good suggestions regarding the proposed ribbon 
advertisement. As he turned in at the printing 
office he encountered Chuck Wilson. 

21 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Why all the rush?” inquired Chuck. 

“Fall in behind and you’ll find out,” returned 
Andy. 

Bud had a little studio fixed up back of the 
pressroom, and it was here that Andy and Chuck 
found him, bent over his drawing board. 

“What’s this? — a delegation?” he grinned, 
when the two boys tumbled into his room and 
made seats for themselves by brushing a pile of 
his drawings from a dry-goods box to the floor. 

“I’ve got a regular old bell-ringer of a scheme, 
Bud,” Andy began ; and then told in detail about 
the ribbons. Bud was interested immediately, 
because he, too, was making a study of adver- 
tising, though from a different angle. It was 
his ambition to become a commercial illustrator. 

“Why, it ought to be a cinch to sell the rib- 
bons,” he enthused. “You bet I’ll help you fix 
up the ad.” 

“I’d like to help, but I don’t know anything 
about writing ads,” put in Chuck. 

“Oh, I’ve got a dandy job for you,” returned 
Andy, and explained about the window display. 

“Say, this is going to be great!” exclaimed 
Chuck, his eyes sparkling. “I guess we’ll show 
up some of the old fogies in town who are trying 
22 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


to do business to-day the same as they did twenty 
years ago. We’ll show ’em how to put jazz into 
a sale.” 

“What I’d like to do, fellows, is to put on a 
sale that will cause everybody in town to sit up 
and take notice. A lot of people think that boys 
can’t do such things, but I believe we can do 
it,” said Andy with conviction. 

“We sure can,” said Bud confidently. 

“The first thing to do is to plan the newspaper 
ad,” said Andy. “This afternoon I talked with 
Miss Cummins about the ribbons and she gave 
me a lot of good stuff. She showed me the dif- 
ference between silk messaline and silk taffeta 
and helped me write down a list of things 
that ribbons are used for. And I fixed it up 
with Mr. Landers to engage Miss Brown, the 
seamstress, to make a lot of fancy bags and 
knick-knacks out of ribbon to exhibit with the 
ribbons. She’s got women’s magazines that tell 
all about how to make that kind of truck. 
W'hen we exhibit the things made of ribbon, the 
women’ll all want to buy some ribbon to make 
some, too. I’ve got a list of the things she’s 
made and the kind of ribbon they’re made of, so 
we can put it in the ad.” 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Maybe if we put on a few ribbon sales we 
can all hire out as dressmakers,” put in Bud. 
A moment later he disappeared in the direction 
of the office and returned with three scratch pads 
and a large sheet of white paper which he tacked 
on his drawing board. “We’ll use this for a 
layout,” he explained. 

Andy produced his notes. 

“In the first place, fellows, I figure we’ve got 
to get a thought into the copy that will make 
the people feel that the ribbons have been se- 
cured as a service to them rather than have them 
feel that the ribbons were unloaded on Landers 
and he in turn plans to unload them on the peo- 
ple.” 

“That’s clear enough,” said Bud, making a 
note of the suggestion. “The first fellow who 
suggests a title for the ad on the order of ‘We 
are overstocked and must unload at a sacrifice’ 
will have to buy a round of root beer.” 

“Then, too,” continued Andy, “the ribbons are 
quality goods, and we want to make the people 
feel that. Otherwise they might think that 
Landers secured a lot of seconds or something, 
seeing as a sale is something entirely new in his 
business.” 


24 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Correct,” from Bud. 

“Also, we want to make the people feel that 
the ribbons are worth the price — and that we 
have lots of different kinds and colors — ribbons 
for all kinds of purposes. Women like to read 
detailed descriptions; so we’ll spread ourselves 
when it comes to writing about quality, colors 
and so on. That’s where the dope from Miss 
Cummins and Miss Brown comes in; and we 
want to make a display line of the date of the 
sale.” 

“When did you say it’s going to come off?” 
asked Bud. 

“Friday and Saturday. I figure that we will 
attract the town people Friday and the coun- 
try people Saturday. The Gazette comes out 
Thursday — day after to-morrow — so we’ll have 
to get busy on the ad to-night.” 

Chuck scrambled to his feet, waving his pad. 
“I’ve got a peach of a title, fellows. Just listen 
to this: 


‘A RIOT OF RIBBONS 
“Oh, oh!” groaned Bud, holding his head as 
though it pained him. “Quick! Some one call 
a doctor!” 


25 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Rotten,” said Andy. “Yon poor fish, don’t 
you realize we’ve got to put ‘class’ into this sale? 
We’re playing up the quality of the goods. Our 
appeal will be ‘desire to possess’ rather than 
‘money saving.’ ‘A riot of ribbons’ sounds 
snappy, but it suggests a disorderly mass of 
stuff.” 

“I’ve got it,” cried Bud. “Look, fellows!” 
With Andy and Chuck at his elbows he lettered 
on the layout sheet: 

THE FIRST RIBBON SHOW IN 
CRESSFIELD 

“Now, we’re getting down to business,” en- 
couraged Andy. “You’ve got the right idea, Bud. 
What we want to do is to make the women want 
to see the ribbons. Once they see them they’ll 
want to buy. I like the sound of a ‘ribbon show.’ 
When you want to interest people in a proposi- 
tion you want to make it interesting from their 
standpoint and keep the ‘we’ out of it.” 

“This is getting awfully deep,” put in Chuck, 
scratching his head, a wry smile on his freckled 
face. 

The boys worked on the advertisement for 
26 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


more than two hours, using the notes about the 
various ribbons and their uses that Andy had 
obtained from Miss Cummins and Miss Brown. 
They were careful in selecting words and shap- 
ing their sentences so as to make the advertise- 
ment tell exactly what they wanted it to tell. Also 
they kept away from using big words, realizing 
that while an unusual word might draw attention 
it was better by far to use simple words and 
typographical effects in order to keep the atten- 
tion of the reader centered on the ribbons. 

In making the layout Bud explained its pur- 
pose to Chuck, pointing out that, if some sort 
of a rough sketch, or layout, of the proposed ad- 
vertisement were not provided, the printer would 
be unable to set the type properly and otherwise 
get the advertisement ready for production. 

“The layout,” explained Bud, “is intended to 
give the size of the ad, the kinds and sizes of 
type desired, the width and general structure 
of the type lines, the location of illustrations 
and things like that.” 

As the boys were about to break up for the 
night Andy suggested that they give the copy 
a final careful reading. 

“All right, here she is,” returned Bud. 

27 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

THE FIRST RIBBON SHOW IN 
CRESSFIELD 

is to be staged at our store Friday and 
Saturday. The ladies of Cressfield 
are invited to view the most unusual 
exhibit of ribbon loveliness ever dis- 
played in this town. 

There are bolts and bolts of lustrous 
ribbons that are a joy to touch — soft, 
clinging messalines, crisp taffetas, 
thick-piled velvets, rich satins. They 
come in every conceivable shade; it 
seems as if every flower, every rainbow 
tinge, every sunset glow were pictured 
in these billowing yards of pink, light 
blue, navy, Alice blue, cardinal, emer- 
ald, brown, purple, old rose, gray, tur- 
quoise, violet, cerise, burnt orange, 
lavender, maize, tan. 

BRING OUT THE COLOR OF 

YOUR EYES WITH A BIT OF 
RIBBON 

Every woman in Cressfield is invited 
to make this interesting experiment. 
Pick out from this wonderful collec- 
tion of colors a shade slightly deeper 
than the shade of your eyes — Copen- 
hagen, sky, turquoise, royal or violet 
28 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


for Miss Blue Eyes and one of the rich 
browns for her dark-eyed sister — hold 
it near your eyes and look in the mir- 
ror. You may be surprised at the 
added beauty the color of the ribbon 
brings to your eyes. 

When you have found the color that 
brings out the color of your eyes most 
effectually, plan touches of that color 
in your costumes from this fascinat- 
ing array of ribbons. 

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED THIS 
WITH A BIT OF RIBBON? 

An interesting feature of this 
unique exhibit is a number of fancy- 
work models of beautiful novelties 
made of these ribbons. You can ex- 
amine the models and copy them in 
ribbon from those on sale. 

For an exquisite foundation for 
your sheer georgette blouse, shir the 
edges of wide fancy silk messaline or 
taffeta and sew on shoulder straps. 
See the models on display and ask for 
nine and three-quarter inch flowered 
messaline or taffeta from the assort- 
ment of 

Fancy ribbons in floral and conven - 
29 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


tional designs in widths of 5%, 

8 % and 9% inches, at Jf5c. to 98c. per 
yard. 

For shoulder straps for the above 
ask for one-inch satin in a harmoniz- 
ing color from the assortment of 

Heavy satin- faced, taffeta-hacked rib- 
bons in widths ranging from 7-16 inch 
to 5% inches, at 5c. to 49c. per yard. 

Make a dainty boudoir cap of 
shirred four-inch messaline. See the 
model on display and ask for a piece 
of your favorite color from the assort- 
ment of 

All-silk messaline ribbon, in widths 
ranging from 4 to 5% inches, at 25c. 
to 39c. per yard. 

For a very novel and dainty effect 
for your little girl’s hair bow em- 
broider the ends in silk floss. Button- 
holing and French knots are very ef- 
fective. See the model on display and 
delight your little girl by letting her 
choose a pretty shade from the assort- 
ment of 


30 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Heavy all-silk taffeta special hair-bow 
ribbon with fancy satin edge, 5 y 8 
inches wide, at 35c. per yard. 

For the newest and prettiest of 
girdles to beautify a new or old dress, 
try the fascinating new double-faced 
ribbon which comes in one color on 
one side and a contrasting color on 
the other. The girdle can be twisted 
loosely to give the double color effect 
and the ends knotted or decorated 
with colored beads. See the model on 
display and ask to see the assort- 
ment of 

Double-faced , two-color satin ribbon 
in widths from % inch to 1% inches, 
at 19c. to lf8c. per yard. 

Trim your new hat or freshen your 
old one by putting on the ribbon 
streamers that are so popular in the 
smartest millinery shops in the large 
cities. Ask for the assortment of 

Silk grosgrain picot-edged ribbon in 
widths from % to 1% inches, at 20c . 
to 35c. per yard. 

For other suggestions, see other rib- 
bon-made articles on display. These 
include party bags, sewing bags, lin- 
31 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


gerie holders, handkerchief and glove 
cases, bedroom slippers and other fas- 
cinating bits of daintiness and beauty. 

NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE 

YOUR RIBBON PURCHASES 

A survey of the ribbon market indi- 
cates a trend toward higher prices. 

We suggest, therefore, that you plan 
your ribbon requirements for the next 
six months and make your selection 
while we have on sale the largest and 
most varied stock of ribbons ever 
shown in Cressfield. 

ALL DAY FRIDAY AND 
SATURDAY 

The ribbons will be on sale Friday 
and Saturday. Should you desire to 
inspect the entire display, be sure to 
come as early as possible Friday 
morning. 

THE LANDERS GENERAL STORE 

“It's a pretty fine ad, Fll say,” declared Andy. 
“Fll tell you, though, I never could have gotten 
in all that feminine dope if it hadn’t been for 
Miss Brown. She spieled it off to me by the 
yard, and all I had to do was to write it down.” 

32 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“I’ll say it’s a fine ad,” said Bud. “It would 
be better if we had some classy illustrations, 
but we haven’t time to work up anything spe- 
cial. We’ll have to make it an ‘all-type’ ad. 
I’ll turn the copy and layout over to Dad the 
first thing in the morning. To-morrow noon 
the proofs will be ready, so be sure and stop in 
to see if they are O.K.” 

“And to-morrow night, right after supper, 
we’ll get busy on the window,” planned Andy. 

The windows of Denny Landers’ store were 
ill-fitted for display purposes and the boys had 
a time arranging the ribbons to their satisfac- 
tion. Landers had never looked upon his win- 
dows as a factor in creating business. Rather, 
he had formed the shiftless habit of making them 
a catchall for miscellaneous cut-outs sent to him 
by jobbing houses. About a dozen of these cut- 
outs were discarded by the boys in preparing 
their window. The window lacked a back- 
ground; so they made one of wall -board pieces, 
about three feet high. The front of the wall- 
board was covered with white cheesecloth, 
plaited and paneled with ribbons. A repre- 
sentative assortment of the ribbons was arranged 
in the foreground. Bud’s window card stated: 

33 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


THESE RIBBONS WILL BE PLACED 
ON SALE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 

A number of women came into the store Thurs- 
day morning and indicated a desire to purchase 
some of the ribbons, but Miss Cummins tact- 
fully explained that the sale did not begin until 
the following morning. News travels fast in 
small towns, and soon the ribbons were receiv- 
ing some very effective word-of-mouth adver- 
tising. Late that afternoon the Cressfield Ga- 
zette came off the press, and the full-page 
advertisement that the boys had prepared in- 
tensified the interest. Andy, Chuck and Bud 
made it a point to stroll by the store that night, 
and they were all in high feather when they 
noticed the many groups that paused to see the 
ribbon display. The boys were confident that 
the sale was going to be a success. 

And it was. Women and girls flocked into 
the store, attracted by the ribbons, and when 
they left they carried away the particular rib- 
bon that pleased them most. Miss Cummins 
was swamped and glad beyond words when 
Chuck and Bud got behind the counter and 
helped out. Andy was so excited he could 
34 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


hardly work. His delivery trips that day were 
made in record-breaking time and about every 
fifteen minutes he would dash into the store to 
see how things were coming along. 

When the store was closed Friday night 
hardly a dozen yards of ribbon were left. This 
was unfortunate, in a way, because the country 
people, who did not get their newspaper until 
Friday morning, would come to town Saturday 
to make their ribbon purchases. Andy estimated 
that twice as many ribbons could have been sold 
as had been received in the two boxes. When he 
pointed this out to Landers, the latter grinned. 

“Sure, it’s playin’ in tough luck we are not 
to have received four boxes. Eh, lad?” 

“Jingo ! I wish we had received four boxes,” 
returned Andy. 

When he received his pay Saturday night he 
found he had been given an extra three dollars. 

“It’s a raise in pay,” grinned the proprietor. 
“Sure, I got to thinkin’ you ought to be gettin’ 
more money, seein’ as how you’re my advertising 
manager. And here’s a five-dollar bill, Andy. 
I want you to split it with your two cronies — 
ineanin’ the freckled Wilson kid and Abe York’s 
boy.” 


35 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


There was a mist in Andy’s eyes. 

“I just guess, Mr. Landers,” he burst out, 
“Pm the happiest kid in seventeen states. I’ve 
had the feeling right along that I could make a 
success of advertising if I had half a chance, and 
now I know it.” 

“This has been such a divil of a fine sale I’m 
thinkin’ we’ll be havin’ more of them,” decided 
the proprietor. “Sure, and if we do it’s going 
to be your job to fix up the advertising. I’m 
beginnin’ to see that there’s something to this 
advertising stuff, Andy. And I guess it’s better 
for the business to have a display of goods in 
the window than a lot of trash. Sure, we live 
and learn.” 

Bud was busy at his drawing board when 
Andy burst in upon him with a wildly enthusias- 
tic account of his good fortune. For a moment 
Bud was startled. 

“Isn’t it great, Bud? Oh, isn’t it great? 
And he called me his advertising manager! 
And he’s going to let me put on special sales 
right along.” 

“Say, where do you get that ‘me’ stuff?” de- 
manded Bud, with a grin. “Fork over that five 
bones, you poor nut, and we’ll hunt up Chuck 
36 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

and have an ice-cream party. If you’re going 
to try and hog all the glory, I guess I’ll hold out 
for my share of the money.” 

Andy’s happiness carried through until Mon- 
day morning and he showed up at the store in 
high spirits. But his heart sank as he met an 
angry-looking man coming out of the store. It 
was Mr. Corey. Clarence Corey was waiting 
for his father in a car at the curb. His face 
darkened when he saw Andy. 

“Ya! Ya!” making a face. “You’re going to 
catch it.” 

In Andy’s enthusiasm over the sale he had 
forgotten about the trouble he had had with the 
Coreys. He found Denny Landers standing 
just inside the door, arms akimbo. The usually 
good-natured face was stormy. His tousled hair 
and flashing eyes gave him the appearance of 
a tantalized setting hen. Miss Cummins, from 
her station back of the dry-goods counter, was 
plainly excited. Evidently Mr. Corey’s mission 
to the store had caused an exciting moment. 

The proprietor’s eyes lighted on the faltering 
Andy. 

“Sure, it’s a fine lot of trouble you’ve got me 
into,” he railed noisily. 

37 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Pm awfully sorry, Mr. Landers. Did — did 
Mr. Corey ask you to fire me?” 

The proprietor sniffed. 

“Did he ask me? Sure, he did not ask me. 
He just ordered me to tie a can on you.” 

Andy gulped and turned to leave. Tears 
stung his eyes and his lips trembled. 

“Where the divil are you goin’?” demanded 
the irate Irishman. “Sure, you ain’t leavin’ me, 
I hope?” 

Miss Cummins fluttered forward. 

“Don’t you think of leaving, Andy. Oh, how 
I wish you could have been here and heard all 
the perfectly wonderful things Mr. Landers told 
Mr. Corey about you. He said he would rather 
lose all the hill trade than lose you, and — ” 

“Git to w^ork, both of you,” ordered Denny 
Landers with assumed roughness. “Sure, this 
ain’t no danged soldiers’ home. This is an hon- 
est-to-goodness, free American store and we 
don’t bob up and down on a stick for even his 
excellency, Mr. Money-Bags Corey. Git to 
work, I say — both of you!” 


CHAPTER III 


Andy’s ribbon sale, an innovation in Cress- 
field’s merchandising circles, did two definite 
things : 

It gave Denny Landers a new viewpoint on 
advertising, as a potent factor in the building 
up of his business ; and it set the other merchants 
in the little town to talking and speculating. 

Hitherto Landers and his fellow merchants 
had advertised in the Gazette in a spasmodic, 
half-hearted way, as though they were of the 
opinion that it was a duty, necessary to the life 
scheme of the struggling weekly newspaper, 
rather than an opportunity. 

So Andy’s full-page ribbon advertisement, and 
the success that accompanied the sale, created 
something of a furor up and down Main Street. 
It set the minds of Landers’ competitors agog, 
and started other merchants to thinking in 
terms of creative advertising. A few were an- 
39 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


tagonistic to the new order of things, principal 
among them Mr. J. P. Hazzel, the pompons and 
portly proprietor of Cressfield’s oldest and most 
conservative retail store. 

On Thursday evening, in the week following 
the appearance of Andy’s ribbon advertisement, 
Mr. Hazzel settled into his chair at the supper 
table and unfolded his newspaper. Following 
the habit of years, he turned to page three where 
his two-inch, double-column “announcement” 
usually appeared in the lower right-hand cor- 
ner. What was his amazement to find another 
Landers’ advertisement staring him in the face. 
This “broom sale” advertisement was the biggest 
thing in the newspaper. Anger and resentment 
gripped the man as he read it. 

“Andy Blake wrote that advertisement,” in- 
formed Mrs. Hazzel from the head of the table 
as she poured the tea. “I hear tell as how Lan- 
ders is going to let him put on Friday and Sat- 
urday sales each week.” 

“Landers’ll find himself in the poorhouse if 
he goes lettin’ a seventeen-year-old boy with 
crazy advertising ideas run his business,” sput- 
tered Hazzel. “It’s plumb foolishness.” 

40 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Maybe it’s foolishness, and maybe it isn’t,” 
put in Mrs. Hazzel pointedly. 

Hazzel permitted his scowl to travel across 
the table. 

“What do you mean?” he demanded sharply. 

“Well, wasn’t Andy’s ribbon sale a success?” 
his wife countered. “It was bound to be a suc- 
cess — I knew it as soon as I picked up the Ga- 
zette last week and read his advertisement. 
There was something about the advertising that 
just made me want to go down town to Landers’ 
store and see those ribbons. And this broom 
sale is going to be a success, too. Look at the 
big saving: a sixty-cent broom for forty-six 
cents. I feel like going down to-morrow and 
buying some of the brooms myself.” 

Hazzel stared at his wife in angry amazement. 

“You’re talkin’ foolishness,” he growled. “I 
tell you this thing can’t keep up. Every one 
of those page ads costs Landers fourteen dol- 
lars. What if he does sell more stuff than he 
would if he didn’t advertise? It takes the profit 
on a good many dollars to pay for a fourteen- 
dollar ad. Besides, his sales will fall off later 
on, due to his customers buyin’ ahead.” 

“And so will your sales fall off if his do,” 
41 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


pointed out Mrs. Hazzel quickly. “Certainly if 
the people stock up on brooms to-morrow and 
Saturday you won’t sell one-tenth as many dur- 
ing the next six months as you ordinarily 
would.” 

When aroused to a point of indignation Hazzel 
had a habit of puffing out his red cheeks. Just 
now he appeared to be very much inflated. 

“If you’re tryin’ to argue me into advertising 
you might just as well save your breath,” he 
sputtered. “I built up my business without ad- 
vertising and I ain’t goin’ to spend my money 
for something I don’t need. If I handle good 
merchandise and deal honestly and courteously 
with my customers, printed advertising is un- 
necessary.” 

Mrs. Hazzel sighed. She had much of that 
progressive spirit that her husband seemingly 
lacked, and this was not the first time she had 
tried to argue him from his conservative strong- 
hold. 

“I’ve heard you say that a thousand times. 
But with Landers advertising these special sales, 
conditions are going to be different. I think 
you ought to advertise, too.” 

“Well, I won’t,” snapped Hazzel stubbornly. 

42 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“No ; you’d rather have a chit of a boy get the 
start of you and take the business right from 
under your nose,” was his wife’s parting shot as 
she disappeared into the kitchen. 

When darkness settled in and the elm trees 
along upper Main Street seemed to harbor gob- 
linlike shadows, Hazzel strolled down town. 
His attention was attracted by several people 
grouped about the display window of the Lan- 
ders store. Sensing that the attraction had 
something to do with the broom sale he crossed 
over. The window, he found, was cleverly deco- 
rated with a “Mother Goose” cut-out, astride a 
broom. A window card read: 

Mother Goose knows a good broom 

WHEN SHE SEES IT. THAT IS WHY SHE 

USES ONE OP OUR BARGAIN BROOMS TO 

SWEEP THE COBWEBS OFF THE SKY. 

Why not do YOUR “brushing” with 

ONE OF OUR BROOMS AND SAVE MONEY? 

Regular 60c. brooms on sale Friday 

and Saturday at 46c. each. 

“Huh! Some more of Andy Blake’s work, I 
suppose,” grunted Hazzel as he stomped along 
toward home. Even after he was in bed his 
43 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


thoughts centered on the coming broom sale. 
He had the feeling that if Landers persisted in 
advertising he, too, would be compelled to ad- 
vertise. At length a happy thought came to him 
and he dropped to sleep with a chuckle. 


CHAPTER IV 


The following morning Mr. Hazzel bustled 
into his store bright and early. Under his di- 
rections one of the clerks knocked the heads 
from four barrels and placed the barrels in front 
of the store. Then Hazzel and the clerk carried 
brooms by the armful until the four barrels 
were crammed. The following sign was at- 
tached to the awning : 

BROOMS 

Uc. 

THESE ARE BETTER BROOMS THAN YOU 

WILL PAY 46c. FOR AT SO-CALLED SALES 

“There, I guess that’ll fix Landers,” chuckled 
Hazzel, arranging the sign so that any one pass- 
ing into the Landers’ store across the street 
could easily read it. “If the people want to buy 
bargain brooms, I guess they’ll buy where 
they’re the cheapest. I’ll get the business and 
Landers’ll have the fun of payin’ for the adver- 
45 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


tising. He won’t be so quick to advertise special 
sales after this.” 

Chuck Wilson was around that morning an 
hour before his usual time. Having helped 
Andy arrange the “Mother Goose” window dis- 
play in Landers’ window, he was much inter- 
ested in the broom sale. When he saw Hazzel’s 
sign his eyes grew big and round and he scooted 
across the street. As he tumbled pell-mell into 
the Landers store Andy grabbed him by the 
collar. 

“Chuck, you’re the very fellow I want to see. 
I’ve arranged with Mr. Landers for you to do 
my ‘trick’ on the delivery wagon while I stay 
here in the store and help sell the brooms. Oh, 
boy! This is going to be a busy place in an 
hour or so. That little old ad that you and Bud 
helped me work out for yesterday’s Gazette is 
attracting all kinds of attention.” 

“The sale’s going to be a fizzle,” cut in Chuck 
excitedly. 

Andy regarded his companion narrowly. 

“Say, how do you get that way? A fizzle? 
Not so you notice it, you poor fish. Why, the 
Gazette was hardly off the press yesterday after- 
noon before we had a dozen or more telephone 
46 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


calls from women asking us to save them brooms. 
That’s a pretty fair indication that the sale is 
going to be a success, Fll say. Of course we 
may not sell all the thousand brooms we have 
in stock; but if we sell seven hundred or eight 
hundred the sale will be a money-maker. And 
still you come kicking in here like a buffalo on 
a stampede and yell ‘fizzle’ ! You’re crazy!” 

“Well, you just squint across the street at the 
sign on old Hazzel’s awning and I guess you’ll 
say the same thing,” sputtered Chuck. 

When Andy saw the barrels of brooms and 
the sign he was nonplused. 

“The old cheat !” he exclaimed impetuously. 

Denny Landers scratched his tousled head 
when he learned of the scheme of his competitor 
to cut in on the broom sale. 

“Sure, we can get back at him and undersell 
him by markin’ our brooms down to forty-two 
cents,” he suggested. 

Andy shook his head doubtfully. 

“I don’t believe that would be good business. 
We’ve advertised the brooms at forty-six cents, 
and it would seem to me that if we made another 
cut, just to compete with Hazzel, the people will 
lose confidence in us. They’ll wonder why we 
47 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

didn’t price the brooms at forty-two cents in 
the first place.” 

“I believe you’re right, lad,” said the Irishman 
slowly. “Sure, we’ll stand by our price of 
forty-six cents. And it’s thinkin’ I am that 
maybe the brooms’ll move, regardless of the ex- 
ceptional inducements of the magnanimous gin- 
tleman across the street. Maybe the people will 
not be so kindly disposed toward his little 
scheme to spoil our sale as he figures. I’m a 
bit dense on this advertising stuff, Andy; but 
I’ve learned from experience that the public ap- 
preciates fair dealing and resents one merchant 
‘knocking’ another. It strikes me that Hazzel’s 
scheme is more of a ‘knock’ on our brooms than 
a ‘boost’ for his own. I may be wrong. We’ll 
just stand our ground and see how the thing 
pans out.” 

Andy was hopeful that the sale would be a 
success, as Landers was inclined to predict, but 
at the same time he was oppressed with anxiety. 
He was soon to learn that the human mind can 
be influenced as readily by sentiment as by logic. 
Certainly Hazzel’s efforts to induce the people 
to purchase his brooms was not entirely satis- 
factory. Women who frequently traded at his 
48 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

store stiffened indignantly when they read the 
sign, entirely ignoring its logical, money-saving 
appeal. 

“Huh ! ” one lady exclaimed with flashing eyes. 
“I'd rather pay Landers two cents more than 
I would to buy my broom from him. He cut 
the price on his brooms because he had to; Lan- 
ders did it voluntarily, to help us save money.” 

Chuck Wilson and Bud York dropped into the 
store when Landers and Andy were about to 
close and call it a week. Upon learning that 
eight hundred and sixty brooms had been sold, 
Bud gave a joyful shout and pegged his cap at 
a June bug circling around the brilliant elec- 
tric light. 

“Oh, boy ! Some sale !” 

“I just met old Hazzel on his way home,” put 
in Chuck gleefully, “and he was stomping along 
as sourlike as you please. I said: ‘Good eve- 
ning, Mr. Hazzel! Hope you had good luck 
with your broom sale,’ and he glared at me.” 

Denny Landers overheard this and grinned. 
As he passed to the rear of the store he stum- 
bled over a stepladder and knocked an article 
from the shelves. 

Ka-bump! Ka-bump! Bump! Bump! Bump! 

49 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Divil take the fellow who left that ladder 
there,” sputtered Landers, recovering his bal- 
ance. 

“Did you hurt yourself, Mr. Landers?” in- 
quired Andy, pausing in his task of covering 
counters in the front part of the store to make 
sure that the clatter and exclamation indicated 
no real damage. 

“Sure, and I damaged my dignity consider- 
able,” retorted Landers, turning to pick up the 
article that had been knocked down. 

“One of the danged ouija boards,” he growled. 
A scowl clouded his face as his thoughts turned 
back to the previous autumn when a glib- 
tongued salesman had persuaded him to put in 
a stock of ouija boards, pointing out that the 
country was ouija board crazy and that the 
boards, being a novelty, would move rapidly 
during the holidays. Of the hundred boards 
that he had purchased, ninety-seven were still 
collecting dust on the shelves. 

As he stood there, with the ouija board in his 
hand, a thought flashed into his mind that 
changed his scowl to a whimsical smile. Here 
was a chance for Andy ! His pride in his prom- 
ising young assistant did not prevent him from 
50 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


enjoying a joke at Andy’s expense. His eyes 
twinkled as he crooked a beckoning finger. 

“It’s a real job that I’ve got for you now, Mr. 
Advertising Andy. Sure, we’re goin’ to have a 
ouija board sale.” 

Andy stared at Landers for a moment and 
then burst into a hearty laugh. 

“You really mean it?” he questioned, his eyes 
sparkling. 

Landers hadn’t; but Andy’s spontaneous en- 
thusiasm fired his own. After all, why not? 
Let the boy see what he could do. 

“Sure,” he affirmed, with a grin. “The 
danged things cost me seventy-six dollars, and 
it’s a happy man I’d be to git rid of them at a 
dollar each. Hazzel said when I bought them 
that he’d never fill up his store with a lot of junk 
like them, and he’s been givin’ me the laugh 
ever since. Let’s show him once more what a 
little advertising can do, Andy boy.” 

Andy chuckled. He shared Landers’ dislike 
for the pompous owner of Cressfield’s other gen- 
eral store. 

“All right, Mr. Landers, we’ll do it,” said he 
emphatically. Still chuckling, he called to 
Chuck and Bud, who were in the front part of 
51 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


the store swatting flies. “Hey, fellows, come 
here.” 

He climbed up the stepladder and handed 
down several of the ouija boards, blowing the 
dust in Chuck’s face. 

“What are they?” coughed Chuck. “Wooden 
valentines?” 

“They’re ouija boards. They tell you all 
about who you’re going to marry and how many 
grandchildren you’re going to have and things 
like that,” grinned Andy as he hopped down. 
“Here, let me show you how to do it. See, you 
place the tips of your fingers on the little heart- 
shaped thing and ask a question. Pretty soon 
it begins moving and answers your question.” 

“Some one ask a question,” suggested Chuck. 

“All right,” returned Andy, winking at Bud. 
“Here’s a good one: ‘Ouija, will Chuck Wilson 
ever have any brains?’ ” Almost instantly the 
board pointed to “no.” 

“Aw, shucks, you moved it,” said Chuck dis- 
gustedly. 

Bud scratched his head. 

“Are you giving the straight dope about want- 
ing us to sell this junk?” he asked, turning to 
Landers. 


52 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“I’ll be grateful to the man who helps me git 
rid of the danged things,” returned Landers 
earnestly. “Sure, Fve tried to sell them time 
and again but they seem to be about as popular 
as a small boy with the measles.” 

“You’ve handed us a real job,” said Bud. “I 
can think of things to say to interest people in 
ribbons and brooms, but I’ll be hanged if I know 
anything favorable to say about a ouija board.” 

“We’ll think about it overnight and get to- 
gether to-morrow,” suggested Andy. “If there’s 
a way to sell ouija boards without getting into 
jail or the insane asylum, we’ll find it.” 


CHAPTER V 


Andy was too tired to give much thought that 
night to how he was going to sell the ouija 
boards. Two minutes after he crawled into bed 
he was sound asleep. But the next morning as 
soon as he was awake he began revolving the 
proposition in his mind. 

On the way to church he told his mother about 
the ouija boards, and she was amused at his 
perplexity. 

“Maybe Mr. Landers is having a joke at your 
expense,” she suggested. 

“No-o,” said Andy slowly. “He isn’t joking. 
You see, Mother, he has a lot of money tied up 
in the ouija boards. Unless he can sell the ouija 
boards and get his money back, it’s just like 
throwing that much money in a deep well where 
it does nobody any good. He’s sincere in want- 
ing us to sell the ouija boards. Gee! I suppose 
there is a way to do it, but I can’t figure it out.” 

“Well, you better put the ouija boards out of 
your mind till after Sunday school,” Mrs. Blake 
54 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


suggested, as they came to the church and quietly 
entered and took seats. 

Andy struggled to carry out this suggestion, 
but many times during the course of the morn- 
ing sermon his thoughts trailed away. He re- 
viewed the ribbon and broom sales. The funda- 
mental appeal of the ribbon advertising was a 
“desire to possess.” In the broom advertising 
the basic appeal was “money saving.” Certainly 
these appeals would not apply to the ouija 
boards. 

“Did you enjoy the sermon, Andy?” his 
mother inquired gently, when the service was 
over and Andy was about to head for the Sun- 
day-school room. 

He flushed. 

“Why, I — I — ” he stammered. 

“Aren’t you ashamed?” his mother reproved. 
“I knew you weren’t listening to the sermon. 
Why, Andy ! All the time you were thinking of 
those old ouija boards.” 

“I guess you’d keep thinking of them, too, if 
you had the job of selling them,” returned Andy, 
a humorous expression lighting up his face. 

“It looks pretty much like an impossibility,” 
said Bud that afternoon when the three boys 
55 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


met by appointment in his little studio in the 
Gazette building. “How can we hope to inter- 
est people in ouija boards when we can’t truth- 
fully say they’ll do what they’re supposed to do?” 

“I guess the ouija board is a fake, all right,” 
agreed Andy. “Certainly, I wouldn’t want to 
go on record as claiming that it will actually 
do mysterious things. Maybe a spirit juggles 
the little heart-shaped jigger around, but I don’t 
believe it. If the thing would move without 
some one touching it, then I’d say its answers 
amounted to something.” 

“You say there are people who actually believe 
in it?” asked Bud. 

“Mrs. Clarke does. Landers sold her one of 
the ouija boards last fall, and I understand she 
sits with her fingers on the blamed thing for 
hours at a time.” 

“And it moves for her of its own accord?” 

“She says it does.” 

“Any one else in town got one?” 

“Landers sold three. The other two were 
bought by kids, just to have fun with at parties, 
I guess.” 

Bud shook his head with a wry smile, then 
appeared to be lost in thought. 

56 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“One thing,” said Andy, “we’ve got to stick 
to the truth. If we make even the suggestion 
of a claim that there is something spooky about 
the ouija board, we’ve got to do it in a joking 
way. My idea would be to get out a handbill 
about twelve by sixteen inches with a picture of 
a magician at the top and then follow with 
humorous copy outlining the interesting fea- 
tures of the ouija board. For instance, we could 
have a subhead, ‘If you want to make the girls 
love you, consult Ouija,’ or, ‘If Ouija says it’s 
going to rain, carry an umbrella and save your 
Sunday hat.’ I believe we could work up a lot 
of stuff that would be real funny.” 

“But would it sell the blamed things?” ques- 
tioned Bud thoughtfully. “I can see where it 
would make people laugh; but wouldn’t they 
laugh at us instead of with us? You know 
that’s one thing you don’t want to do in adver- 
tising — get the other fellow^ laughing at you.” 

“What’s your suggestion?” inquired Andy. 

“Haven’t any. It looks to me like a hopeless 
proposition to try and create a demand for an 
article so absolutely useless as a ouija board. 
No one needs it. As an ornament it’s nil. You 
57 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


can’t use it without faking, because it doesn’t 
do the things of its own accord.” 

“That’s true,” said Andy. “But the fact re- 
mains that we’ve got the ouija boards to sell 
and we might as well get busy. Make a rough 
layout of the handbill, Bud, with a real spooky- 
looking gink at the top gazing at a crystal or 
something. Then we’ll decide on a heading and 
work up the copy.” 

Bud busied himself with the sketch, plainly 
enjoying the work. 

“How’s that?” he asked after a while, tilting 
back in his chair. 

“Fine,” complimented Andy. “Looks like a 
real Hindoo magician.” 

“What’s he squinting in the manhole for?” 
inquired Chuck, bending over the drawing board. 

“What manhole?” scowled Bud. 

“W r hy, ain’t that round thing a manhole?” 

“You poor nut! That’s a crystal. Haven’t 
you got any imagination?” 

Chuck grinned. He was in his glory when 
he had Bud angry. 

“Sure I’ve got imagination,” he returned eas- 
ily. “And my imagination tells me that as an 
artist you’d make a second-class plumber. 

58 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

You’d ought to get a job painting railroad 
bridges.” Then he ducked as Bud made a swat 
at his nose with a paint brush. 

"I’ve got a cracker jack of a title, fellows,” 
said Andy. 

OUIJA LIFTS THE VEIL 

"What does ‘Ouija lifts the veil’ mean?” 
Chuck asked. 

"Well, it doesn’t mean a great deal of any- 
thing, except that it sounds mysterious and sug- 
gests the disclosing of secrets and things like 
that. It sort of has ‘atmosphere.’ ” 

"I’ve got a better title than that,” grinned 
Chuck. 

WHAT IS HOME WITHOUT A OUIJA 
BOARD? 

"Go bury yourself in a deserted graveyard,” 
put in Bud. "Andy’s heading is the best.” And 
he lettered it on the layout beneath the illus- 
tration. "Now, how about the copy?” 

Andy scribbled the length of several scratch- 
pad sheets, then cried : 

"Here’s a good start, fellows.” 

59 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

OUIJA LIFTS THE VEIL 

The secrets of the ages are unfolded 
before you. Ouija lifts the veil and 
permits you to explore the borderland 
of the unknown, the dim mysterious 
region that lies between mind and 
matter. 

Whatever problem confronts you — so- 
cial, industrial, religious — consult 
Ouija. 

If you want to know when you are 
going to be married, ask Ouija. 

Ouija will tell you what horse is des- 
tined to win the race, what baseball t 
team will carry home the pennant, 
what makes your apples fall off the 
trees before they get ripe, and why 
your neighbor lets his chickens scratch 
up your garden. 

All this Ouija will tell you, and more. 

If your automobile has a knock in one 
of the cylinders, Ouija will tell you 
just where to look for the trouble and 
thus enable you to save on your garage 
bills. 

Consult Ouija if your jelly won’t 
“jell.” If your husband has the 
“lodge” habit, a little advice from 
60 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Ouija will enable you to keep him at 
home evenings. 

Ouija has an answer for any question 
that you may care to ask. The truth- 
fulness of the answers is a matter that 
you can easily determine for yourself. 

Ask us about Ouija the next time you 
are in our store. 

THE LANDERS GENERAL 
STORE 

“Holy cow!” yelled Chuck when Andy fin- 
ished reading. “Are you talking all that high- 
brow stuff about the little heart-shaped jig- 
ger?” 

Andy grinned and nodded. 

“It sounds interesting,” commented Bud. 

“Of course,” continued Andy, “a story like 
this won’t induce a large number of people to 
come into the store to inquire about ‘Ouija’; 
but it will arouse interest, and if we display 
the ouija boards prominently in the middle of 
the store and try to sell them to the different 
people who come in, I believe we can get rid 
of them.” 

As Andy had anticipated, the handbill caused 
a great deal of amusement, but the attitude of 
61 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


the people who came into the store was a keen 
disappointment to him. No one seemed to take 
a serious interest in the ouija boards; instead, 
the people appeared to look upon the proposi- 
tion as a splendid opportunity to poke fun at 
the management. Andy’s cheeks burned more 
than once when he overheard a choice piece of 
raillery directed at his employer. Customers 
ordering groceries over the telephone would sug- 
gest that he “consult Ouija” to learn if the goods 
would be delivered in time for dinner. Every- 
where he turned he heard “Ouija.” On one occa- 
sion he chased Clarence Corey half a block be- 
cause Clarence had spitefully yelled “Ouija” at 
him while passing the store. 

“I wish the darned ouija boards were at the 
bottom of the Pacific Ocean,” he growled to 
Bud, when he dropped into the latter’s studio 
Thursday evening. 

“How many have you sold?” inquired Bud, 
tilting back in his chair. 

“Not a one. And I’ve been kidded about the 
blamed things until I’m just ready to soak the 
next fellow who gets funny. This afternoon I 
met old Hazzel on the street and he just stood 
and laughed at me. You can imagine how he 
62 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

looked, with hie fat cheeks flopping. He’s so 
tickled over the fizzle I’ve made of this onija 
board sale that he’s shouting it all over town. 
Denny Landers is getting the laugh from one 
end of Main Street to the other.” 

“Well, we’ve learned something, anyway,” 
said Bud. “We know now how useless it is to 
try and sell something for which there isn’t a 
demand or for which a demand can’t be cre- 
ated.” 


CHAPTER VI 


Andy was both discouraged and humiliated. 
After his marked success in handling the ribbon 
and broom sales the thought was rapidly taking 
root in his mind that with very little effort he 
could mold advertising to fit any purpose. In 
a way, he was getting overconfident. He was 
just a little bit “puffed up” over his success, 
which was excusable, because he had shown un- 
usual courage and ability in planning the ribbon 
and broom sales. He was keenly alive to the 
high position that he occupied in Denny Lan- 
ders’ estimation, and was downhearted at the 
thought that in failing to sell the ouija boards 
he was losing prestige in the eyes of his em- 
ployer. 

But though apparently “licked,” Andy man- 
aged to keep his grit. Friday morning he 
headed for the store with grim determination 
to do everything in his power to sell at least a 
few of the ouija boards. He would argue the 
people into buying them; he simply wouldn’t 
take “no” for their final answer. 

64 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

As he passed the town hall his attention was 
attracted by a knot of people and he paused to 
inquire what had happened. 

“They've got old Joe Corbett locked up,” one 
of the bystanders explained. “He stole a ham 
out of Mrs. Clarke’s cellar. They arrested him 
on suspicion and found the ham in his shack, 
under a loose board in the floor. It’s funny 
how they came to arrest him.” 

“How’s that?” inquired Andy quickly. 

“Why, Mrs. Clarke has one of these ouija 
boards and when she missed her ham, she asked 
the ouija board if old Joe stole the ham and the 
blamed thing said ‘yes.’ What do you know 
about that?” 

For a moment Andy flushed angrily, thinking 
that the man was joking. Then he sensed that 
the fellow was sincere, and a big light began to 
break about him. Excitedly, he questioned 
others, who verified the story. 

With the facts in his possession he scooted 
down the street. As he tumbled pell-mell into 
the Gazette office he all but collided with Bud. 

“For the love of Pete, what’s up?” inquired 
Bud. 

“The greatest streak of luck in the world,” 
65 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


cried Andy excitedly. “At last we- ve got an ap- 
peal that will sell the ouija boards.” Quickly 
he told about Mrs. Clarke’s ham and the arrest 
of old Joe. 

Bud’s eyes sparkled. 

“This is luck,” he agreed. “Now we can do 
something — we can talk facts” 

“I’ll say we can,” returned Andy. “We’ll get 
out a handbill right away; and we’ll make it a 
news story. Your father’s newspaper, with an 
account of the affair, won’t come out till next 
week and the people will be glad to get our 
story. We’ll spread ourselves on the copy, Bud. 
W r e’ll make it real dramatic, with a lot of 
‘punch,’ and we’ll see that ‘Ouija’ gets plenty 
of credit for bringing about the arrest of the 
thief. 

“Then, Bud, you and I and Chuck will start 
out with the ouija boards and canvass the town. 
After making fun of us the people won’t want 
to come to the store; so we’ll make it easy for 
them to buy the boards by delivering them at 
their front doors. I’m going over to the store 
to tell Landers about our plan and while I’m 
away you see if you can get hold of Chuck. I’ll 
be back in a jiffy and we’ll get the copy ready 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


so that the handbills can be printed right away. 
The sooner the better. Oh, boy! Here’s where 
we get a lick at ‘timely’ advertising — and be- 
lieve me, old kid, we’re going to advertise the 
ouija boards this time while the people are 
thinking about them and wondering just how 
far the blamed things do go in giving out se- 
cret information.” 

As Andy raced across the street he encoun- 
tered Mr. Hazzel, who was stomping along in 
his usual pompous style. He chuckled as Andy 
came even with him. 

“Sellin’ lots of ouija boards, Andy?” 

“Wait and see,” returned Andy, cutting across 
the street to the Landers store. Hazzel looked 
after him with an expression of uncertainty on 
his fat face. 

“Huh ! I wonder what the kid is up to now?” 

Denny Landers was quick to see the possi- 
bilities in Andy’s plan and readily released him 
for a couple of hours. As a matter of fact he 
was fully as anxious as Andy to get rid of the 
ouija boards. The “joshing” that he was getting 
on all sides was beginning to bore him, and he 
was hopeful that Andy’s plan would prove suc- 
67 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


cessful and that the ouija boards would dis- 
appear from his sight forever. 

News travels fast in small towns, and very 
quickly the people of Cressfield learned about 
the arrest of old Joe and the part that the ouija 
board played in the affair. But the stories in 
circulation were disjointed and incomplete and 
there was a definite thirst for real news. When 
Andy’s handbill appeared, it was given an en- 
thusiastic reception. Not a word that the boys 
had written was overlooked. And, as Andy had 
anticipated, the people who had joked the 
loudest about “Ouija” began to wonder in their 
own minds just how much truth there was to 
the claims made for the ouija board. 

OUIJA BOARD FIGURES IN 
ARREST OF HAM THIEF 


DEMONSTRATES ITS MAGICAL POWERS IN 
THRILLING STYLE 


COMMUNITY STANDS AMAZED 

Early this morning Constable 
William Starr was called to the home 
of Mrs. Nancy Clarke, 619 Walnut 
Street, from the cellar of which a ham 
68 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


was stolen last night, the thief gaining 
admittance by forcing the lock on the 
outside cellar door. 

Constable Starr was unsuccessful in 
unearthing any clues that would point 
to the party or parties engaged in the 
robbery, but Mrs. Clarke, much con- 
cerned over the affair, stated that she 
possessed a means of learning who 
had stolen her ham and to the aston- 
ishment of the constable produced her 
ouija board. 

Having noticed old Joe Corbett 
hanging around the house the previous 
evening, she asked Ouija if he were 
guilty of the robbery and to the amaze- 
ment of Constable Starr the board 
pointed to “yes.” When asked if any 
other persons were connected with the 
robbery the board said “no.” 

Constable Starr was reluctant to act 
on this information, having little be- 
lief in the magical or supernatural 
properties of the ouija board, but in- 
asmuch as old Joe had been seen in 
that vicinity the previous evening he 
proceeded to Corbett’s shack, near the 
stone quarry, and arrested the man on 
suspicion. 

Corbett strongly denied any knowl- 
69 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

edge of the robbery, but a search of 
the shack revealed the ham concealed 
beneath a loose board in the floor. 

After that Corbett admitted his guilt 
and was straightway locked up in the 
local jail. He will be given a hearing 
and probably sent to the workhouse 
for forty days. 

While the community stands amazed 
at the part that Mrs. Clarke’s ouija 
board played in the affair, she herself 
insists that there is no cause for ex- 
citement. She states that this is only 
one of many marvelous disclosures 
that her ouija board has made, and has 
consented to demonstrate her ouija 
board to any one interested. 

J. P. Hazzel read the handbill from begin- 
ning to end. At first he w T as absorbed in the 
news it contained. Then he recognized a defi- 
nite merchandising appeal. 

“Huh! Another attempt of Andy Blake’s to 
sell the ouija boards,” he growled, wadding the 
handbill and tossing it away. “Folderol! All 
the advertising in Kingdom Come wouldn’t sell 
such contraptions.” 

But the old gentleman was destined to receive 
a shock. When he stepped into his home that 
70 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


day for dinner he was attracted to the parlor 
by an excited hum of voices. He found his wife 
and two neighbor ladies with their heads to- 
gether. When he saw what they were doing he 
froze to the spot. 

“Did you buy that?” he demanded, pointing 
to a brand-new ouija board. 

“Why, yes,” his wife admitted, somewhat 
flustered. “Andy Blake brought it to the house 
this morning and — ” 

“Do you mean to say you let that confounded 
Blake kid sell you one of these nonsensical 
things?” thundered Hazzel. 

“Yes, I did,” returned Mrs. Hazzel spiritedly. 
“And if you don’t like it you can go and do your 
shouting in the kitchen.” 

Instead of going to the kitchen Hazzel grabbed 
his hat and stomped down the street. His mind 
was a riot, but gradually, as he strode along, 
his brain began to function normally. At length 
he appeared to come to a decision and turned 
his steps toward the Landers store, grim de- 
termination showing on his sweat-streaked face. 
Seeing Andy on the back platform moving some 
boxes around he turned up the alley. There 
71 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


was a reason why he wished to avoid Denny 
Landers. 

“Ahem,” he began, wiping his face with his 
handkerchief. “Warm day, Andy. Warm day. 
Awful hot for June. How are you comm’ along 
with your ouija boards?” 

“All sold,” grinned Andy, puzzling his brain 
for an explanation of the man’s visit. 

“I — er — rather expected you to say that,” said 
Hazzel. “I see you sold one to my wife. You 
seem to be quite a salesman, Andy. Your ad- 
vertising is interesting, too.” 

Andy was amazed. 

“I didn’t know you were interested in my 
advertising work,” he stammered. 

“I — er — have changed my viewpoint some- 
what in regard to advertising. In fact I expect 
to do considerable advertising myself this sum- 
mer and can make you a good offer if you’ll 
come and work for me. I’ll let you handle all 
the advertising. I can afford to pay you more 
than Landers does. How soon can you go to 
work for me, Andy?” 

For a moment Andy was at a loss for words. 
Hazzei’s generous offer was a surprise to him, 
yet it gave him a thrill of satisfaction. It gave 
72 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

him the feeling that he was doing some worth- 
while work and that his efforts were gaining 
recognition. 

“I’m grateful for your offer, Mr. Hazzel,” he 
said at length. “I guess, though, Fd better stick 
with Mr. Landers. He gave me my chance in 
the first place, and he’s giving me plenty of 
opportunities to put my advertising theories 
into practical form and that’s what I need the 
most right now.” 

Hazzel was more than disappointed — he was 
surprised. He had fancied, in his superior way, 
that Andy would jump at the chance of work- 
ing for him. 

“Then you refuse to come and work for me?” 
he demanded stiffly, his red cheeks puffed out. 

“I just can’t work for you and for Mr. Lan- 
ders, too ; and I wouldn’t think of leaving here,” 
returned Andy frankly. 

“But I’ll pay you more money,” said Hazzel. 

“I guess Mr. Landers’ll always pay me what 
I’m worth,” returned Andy, turning to his 
work. 

Unknown to the man and the boy Denny Lan- 
ders overheard the conversation. He stood just 
73 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

within the store door and chuckled as Hazzel 
turned about and disappeared down the alley. 

“I’ll be danged if Andy isn’t a revelation to 
me,” he murmured with a mist in his eyes. “The 
little divil is true blue all the way through!” 


CHAPTER VII 


Andy had many loyal friends in Cressfield 
who lived happy moments in the knowledge that 
he was making definite progress in advertising. 
These friends, having watched him develop from 
a boy into a promising young man, were anxious 
to see him succeed in the profession he had 
elected to follow, and offered gentle and sincere 
words of encouragement. At times Andy was 
a bit abashed to learn that so many people were 
aware of his ambitions and knew so much about 
him. Yet always he was grateful for this kindly 
interest. It stiffened his upper lip and gave 
him courage to reach out for still greater vic- 
tories. 

Miss Tillie Taylor was one of the many people 
who followed Andy’s new work with more than 
ordinary interest. This sprightly little old 
lady, with her iron-gray hair and merry blue 
eyes, was one of Cressfield’s most quaint and 
lovable characters. She was “Aunt Tilly” to 
75 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


all the boys and girls ; and always, in the depths 
of her warm eyes, there twinkled a welcome 
when Andy and his companions came on Sunday 
afternoon to laze in the friendly shade of the 
big elm tree that spread its giant branches oyer 
her flower-bordered lawn. 

Of late Aunt Tilly had seen less and less of 
her favorite, and she missed him. Through 
Chuck Wilson she learned of the books that 
were holding Andy’s attention in his spare mo- 
ments. Chuck was loyally voluminous in his 
word pictures of the great advertising man that 
Andy was to be “when he went to the city.” 

As Andy seemed to grow out of her life, Aunt 
Tilly, in her great love for boys, took to shower- 
ing more and more of her attention on Chuck 
Wilson. True, she scolded him on occasion 
when he raided her strawberry patch or im- 
periled the usefulness of her aged cherry trees 
by dangling monkey-fashion from branches that 
creaked under his weight, but she loved the 
freckle-faced, adventuresome boy for these very 
qualities. Now, on hearing him clatter up to 
the front door in the Landers store delivery 
wagon, she hastily wiped away the mist that 
clouded her eyes and with a nervous movement 
76 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


thrust her well-worn bank book out of sight in 
the dresser drawer. 

Probably Chuck would have been dismayed 
had he detected Aunt Tilly in tears. So effec- 
tually did the old lady conceal from her neigh- 
bors the financial troubles that confronted her 
that every one in the town regarded her as the 
embodiment of sunshine and optimism. But 
there were moments when Aunt Tilly’s heart 
was filled with distress. She faced the fact that 
the meager savings inherited from her mother 
were fast dwindling and the time was near when 
she would have to arrive at a means of earning 
money or else be compelled to give up her little 
home with its quaint green-shuttered windows 
and scroll-decorated veranda. 

Unaware that he had interrupted Aunt Tilly 
in one of her ‘‘blue” moments, Chuck hopped up 
the steps of the back porch, one arm encircling 
a basketful of groceries. 

“Hello, Aunt Tilly!” he grinned. 

Aunt Tilly beamed on him as she unlatched 
the screen door that protected her spotless 
kitchen from an invasion of flies. 

“Charley Wilson, you young scamp, what are 
you doing on the delivery wagon?” she inquired. 
77 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“I do hope Andy Blake isn’t having a sick spell." 

“Sick? Huh! Andy’s too busy writing ads 
and planning special sales for Denny Landers 
to get sick." 

“Is he getting ready for another sale, Char- 
ley?" 

“Sure. We’re going to have lots of ’em. 
Andy’s going to work in the store and I’ve got 
his old job on the delivery wagon. Ten dollars 
a week for me, Aunt Tilly. Guess that ain’t 
so poor, huh?’’ — and Chuck permitted his chest 
to swell up as he strutted about the kitchen. 

“Now, isn’t that just too grand for any- 
thing,” exclaimed Aunt Tilly, her blue eyes 
sparkling. “And I’m glad, too, that Andy has 
been promoted. He’s a good boy." She ad- 
justed her steel-rimmed spectacles and inspected 
the basketful of groceries on the kitchen table. 

“Charley, haven’t you forgotten my sugar?" 
she pointed out. 

“No, Aunt Tilly. It’s in that little sack 
under your hand." 

“But I ordered more than this, Charley. I’m 
sure I told Andy over the telephone I wanted 
twenty pounds." 

“We’re awfully short on granulated sugar 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


right now,” explained Chuck. “Two pounds is 
all we’re letting a customer have to-day.” 

“Just like war times,” said Aunt Tilly a bit 
impatiently. “What in the world is the mat- 
ter? The other stores have plenty of sugar.” 

“This spring Denny Landers held off buying, 
feeling that the price would likely take a drop. 
He’s got his orders in now, but shipments have 
been delayed for some reason or other. We’re 
on our last barrel.” 

“Dear me!” complained the old lady, regard- 
ing the small allotment of sugar with great dis- 
approval. “How in the world am I going to 
can my strawberries if I can’t get sugar? I’ll 
have to go to one of the other stores, Charley.” 

“Don’t do that, Aunt Tilly. Just wait till 
Friday and Saturday and we can sell you all 
the sugar you want; and cheap, too. We’re 
going to have a big sugar sale. The Glossburg 
wholesale man was in the store yesterday tell- 
ing about some bargain sugar his company has 
on hand, and Denny Landers gave him an order 
for ten thousand pounds. Andy urged Denny 
to buy the sugar. They’re bringing it to-day on 
trucks.” 

“Charley, are you telling me the truth?” 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Honest, Aunt Tilly. The price is going to 
be marked down, because it’s unbleached sugar.” 

“Unbleached sugar? I never did hear tell of 
such a thing,” declared the old lady. 

“Mother says she never did, either. But 
that’s what it is. Andy talked Denny Landers 
into buying it and he says it’s just the same as 
the regular granulated sugar except it isn’t so 
white. Of course he got that from the sales- 
man. I don’t know exactly what the price will 
be, Aunt Tilly, but Thursday night you watch 
for our ad in the Gazette and that will tell you 
all about the sale.” 

Aunt Tilly was still regarding the small sack 
of sugar with disfavor. 

“Charley, it’s all well enough for you to tell 
me abqut what’s going to happen next Friday 
and Saturday, and how I can get a-plenty of 
sugar then , but that doesn’t help a body right 
now. I’ve got to have another two pounds of 
sugar to-day. This is Luella Bittle’s seventh 
birthday and she always expects me to give her 
a box of taffy candy. It will take all the sugar 
you’ve brought me to make the candy and then 
I won’t have a speck left.” 

Chuck scratched his tousled head. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“I suppose I can bring you another two 
pounds. Aunt Tilly — ” 

The old lady smiled and patted him on the 
shoulder. 

“You’re a good-hearted boy, Charley, even if 
you did put fly paper all over my cat last sum- 
mer. Now run along and get the other two 
pounds and when you come back maybe I’ll have 
a surprise for you.” 

Chuck’s eyes got big and round. 

“Cake?” he guessed, mindful of past “sur- 
prises.” 

“Pshaw ! Do you think I’ve got time to bake 
cake for hungry boys? No, it won’t be cake. 
It’s more likely to be some of my taffy candy.” 


CHAPTER VIII 


At the store Chuck encountered Andy, who 
was too deeply engrossed in planning the details 
of the coming sugar sale to pay much attention 
to an account of Aunt Tilly’s immediate sugar 
requirements. As Chuck had explained to the 
old lady, Andy was largely responsible for the 
sugar sale idea. When Denny Landers had 
hesitated to contract for the sugar in the amount 
of ten thousand pounds, at a cost of four hun- 
dred dollars, Andy had enthusiastically urged 
him to go ahead, pointing out that the canning 
season, now at hand, would assure a ready mar- 
ket for the unbleached product, which, accord- 
ing to the glib story of the salesman, was as 
suitable for canning as the bleached sugar. So 
Landers placed the order, having confidence in 
Andy’s judgment, and the latter enlisted the co- 
operation of Bud in the preparation of a full 
page advertisement for the Gazette , announcing 
the sale. 


82 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


NOW YOU CAN FILL MORE OF 
THOSE EMPTY FRUIT JARS 

With home-grown strawberries coming 
into the market and early cherries 
ripening on the trees, there has been 
much concern among housewives over 
the sugar situation. It is a fact that 
canning does require a heavy invest- 
ment in sugar; and sometimes fruit 
jars are left unfilled for that reason. 

We Can Sell You All the Sugar Needed 
at a Bargain Price 

Having purchased in one lot, 10,000 
pounds of unbleached granulated 
sugar, we will place this on sale Fri- 
day and Saturday in twenty-five- 
pound, fifty-pound and one-hundred- 
pound sacks at 

5c. Per Pound 

Though not as white as the bleached 
sugar, now priced at 6c. and 7c. per 
pound, you will find the unbleached 
product as well adapted to canning 
purposes as the kind you have been in 
the habit of using. Its sweetening 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


properties are the same, it has the 
same bulk per pound, and is identical 
in every respect except that it is un- 
bleached. 

We Guarantee This Sugar 

We will stand back of every pound 
of the unbleached sugar that we sell. 

This sugar, of course, would hardly 
prove satisfactory for table use, and 
we do not recommend it for that; but 
for cooking and canning it is the 
equivalent of any sugar, bleached or 
unbleached, that you can buy any- 
where. 

ON SALE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 

If you cannot visit our store Friday 
and Saturday telephone your order 
and the sugar will be delivered the day 
your order is booked. 

THE LANDERS GENERAL 
STORE 

The advertisement appeared late Thursday 
afternoon and that night Andy showed up at 
the Gazette office with a copy of the newspaper 
84 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

in his hand. He found Bud in the latter’s 
studio. 

“Oh, boy, some ad!” he cried, flourishing the 
newspaper. “It’s the biggest thing in the Ga- 
zette. Take it from me, Bud, old kid, we’re 
going to have one grand stampede in the store 
to-morrow morning.” 

Denny Landers’ store was indeed a busy scene 
Friday morning. As soon as the doors were 
open customers began to flock in. They came 
early so as to make sure of getting all the sugar 
they needed at the low price. Most of the cus- 
tomers were women, and at times they were so 
thick in the store, and the confusion was so 
great, that Andy was almost distracted. Occa- 
sionally a customer expressed doubts as to the 
quality of the unbleached sugar and had to be 
“sold”; but the big majority simply placed their 
orders, demonstrating thereby that the sugar ad- 
vertisement, backed up by Denny Landers’ repu- 
tation, had brought about exactly the frame of 
mind that Andy had intended. Money rolled 
across the counter in a steady stream. At noon 
Landers banked two hundred dollars, with 
every prospect of taking in an equal amount dur- 
ing the afternoon. 


85 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Chuck Wilson kept the old delivery wagon 
humming every minute of the day and long be- 
fore supper time his back was lame from lifting 
heavy sugar sacks. It was after five o’clock 
when he limped up the steps of Aunt Tilly’s 
back porch to deliver the fifty-pound sack that 
she had ordered. 

“Gee-miny, Aunt Tilly, I’m just about all in,” 
he groaned, dropping into a kitchen chair. 

“Why, you poor dear,” sympathized the old 
lady, fluttering around him. 

Chuck reveled in this attention. 

“Say, Aunt Tilly,” he asked, “you don’t hap- 
pen to have any more of that taffy candy left 
over that you made the other day, do you?” 

Aunt Tilly’s eyes twinkled. 

“Suppose I see what I can find,” she sug- 
gested, disappearing into the pantry. 

Chuck was fortunate inasmuch as she “found” 
several pieces and he drove away with both 
cheeks puffed out, a contented grin illuminating 
his freckled face. 

“Golly, Ned ! Aunt Tilly sure does know how 
to make taffy candy,” he murmured to himself, 
forgetting for the moment that he was “just 
about all in.” 


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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


In checking up Friday’s sales, Andy estimated 
that fully six thousand pounds of the un- 
bleached sugar had been sold and the majority 
of this had been delivered. 

"I won’t argue that ” said Chuck with a tired 
grin, rubbing his back. 

“Fagged out, Chuck?” laughed Andy. 

“Oh, no!” flared Chuck. “How could a big 
fellow like me get tired lifting little bits of fifty- 
pound sacks of sugar around? Huh!” 

“Well, don’t lose your grit,” advised Andy. 
“To-morrow’s going to be a heavy day, too.” 

His prediction held true. The country peo- 
ple crowded the store Saturday and early in 
the afternoon the last sack of unbleached sugar 
passed over the counter. When Andy closed 
the store that night it was with a high heart 
and a tired body. He was even too tired to 
accept Chuck’s invitation to stop at Miller’s 
drug-store for a dish of ice cream. Fatigue 
might destroy Chuck’s piece of mind, but it left 
his appetite unaffected! 

Mrs. Blake let Andy sleep late Sunday morn- 
ing, and when he jumped into his trousers it 
was to learn that his mother had been up for 
some time. She had gathered a big pan of 
8T 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


strawberries from the garden and a heaping dish 
of the berries awaited him at the breakfast 
table. 

“Why didn’t you call me, Mother?” he said. 
“You know I would have gathered the berries 
for you.” 

“But I enjoyed doing it, Andy. I love to be 
in the garden in the early morning hours, when 
the air seems so fresh and clean. Besides, I 
knew how tired you were. Come, now, sit up 
to your breakfast and tell me about the sugar 
sale.” 

“There isn’t much to tell, Mother, except that 
the sale was the biggest kind of a success. 
Denny Landers was lucky to get the sugar at 
such a low price. He cleared a hundred dol- 
lars on the sale. And the people appreciated 
the saving, I tell you.” 

The berries not being sweet enough to suit 
his taste he reached for the sugar. 

“What’s the matter, Mother? — out of sugar?” 
rattling the spoon in the empty bowl. 

“Dear me, I forgot it was empty,” said Mrs. 
Blake. “Suppose we try the canning sugar,” 
she suggested, filling the bowl from a sack that 
she had purchased during the sale. 

88 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Well, that won’t make me sore,” grinned 
Andy. “Guess it tastes just as sweet as any 
other kind of sugar, even if it isn’t so white.” 
But a moment later he made a wry face. “Say, 
Mother, I don’t like the flavor of this sugar.” 
Mrs. Blake tasted her berries sweetened with the 
canning sugar and admitted that the sugar did 
have a peculiar molasseslike flavor. 

On the instant Andy’s face was serious. 

“Do you suppose other people will notice the 
funny taste and object to it?” 

His mother sensed the alarm that was taking 
root in his heart and sought to relieve him. 

“You know, Andy, you didn’t recommend the 
sugar for table use.” 

“Yes, but that was mostly on account of its 
looks . I thought it would taste all right. Why, 
it would be awful if we had to make good on all 
the sugar we’ve sold. It would mean a big loss 
to Landers.” 

“No doubt the sugar is all right for canning, 
Andy, just as the salesman told you. Suppose 
I can a few quarts of strawberries and see.” 

“And miss church, Mother?” 

“Yes; though ordinarily I wouldn’t do such 
a thing.” 

89 


\ 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

Andy was plainly ill at ease while the berries 
were cooking. Now, when it was too late, he 
began to see where he had made a serious mis- 
take by encouraging Denny Landers to buy the 
unbleached sugar without first proving its quali- 
ties. In his zeal to serve his employer he had 
overlooked the most vital point in business build- 
ing — protecting the interests of the customer. 
Good advertising will sell an inferior article or 
service once, but permanency is secured only 
through repeat business. No establishment can 
afford to experiment with a product of inferior 
quality at the expense of the customer. Andy 
knew this, but in his eagerness to make the sale 
a success from his employer’s standpoint he had 
overlooked the customer entirely. 

At intervals Andy and his mother tasted the 
cooking berries. The peculiar molasseslike 
flavor was noticeable to both. This was true 
even when the berries had cooled. 

Poor Andy! He was now convinced that a 
great deal of the unbleached sugar would be re- 
turned and he put in many wretched hours try- 
ing to figure a way out of the predicament. At 
length he decided that the first thing Monday 
morning he would go to Denny Landers and tell 
90 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


liim what he had learned regarding the sugar. 

“I feel like a — a simpleton — a great big sim- 
pleton,” he groaned. “Oh, why didn’t I think 
to have the sugar tested before encouraging 
Landers to go ahead and buy it? That’s what 
I should have done. But I guess I had this 
coming to me. I can look back now and see that 
I was over-confident. Things were coming my 
way too easily and I got careless.” 


CHAPTER IX 


Before Andy could get to Denny Landers 
Monday morning a woman came into the store 
with a sack of unbleached sugar and demanded 
her money. 

Denny Landers regarded the woman with knit 
eyebrows. 

“Sure, Mrs. King, I’m glad to refund your 
money if you say the word. But it’s surprised 
I am, ma’am, to learn of your dissatisfaction. I 
thought the sugar was O.K. in every respect.” 

“Well, it isn’t,” snapped Mrs. King. “My hus- 
band refuses to eat it and I don’t blame him. 
It’s got a funny taste.” 

“If the sugar isn’t right, ma’am, I don’t want 
you to have it,” said Denny Landers. “Sure, I’ll 
exchange your unbleached sugar for the bleached 
kind, pound for pound, at the same price, if 
that will be satisfactory to you. This store 
stands for square dealing, first, last and always ; 
and if the time ever comes when I can’t give my 
customers a square deal I’ll close the business.” 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


The woman was impressed with his earnest- 
ness and her antagonism melted away. 

“Fll be glad to get the other sugar, Mr. Lan- 
ders, if you can arrange to let me have it. 
Really, though, I don’t want you to think I’m 
unreasonable; that unbleached sugar isn’t good. 
I’d be afraid to use it for canning.” 

Before Mrs. King was out of the store two 
other women came in to return the sugar they 
had purchased. Andy was sick at heart. A 
thousand miserable thoughts flashed through his 
troubled mind and he groaned as he pictured 
himself being discharged in disgrace. This was 
needless concern on his part and was occasioned 
because he overlooked the bigness of the man 
for whom he was working. Denny Landers may 
have noticed the boy’s dejection, because at the 
first opportunity he crossed the store and patted 
him on the shoulder. 

A mist stung Andy’s eyes. 

“I’m sorry I urged you to buy the unbleached 
sugar, Mr. Landers,” he said impulsively. 

“Tut! Tut! Forget it, lad. Sure, no one’s 
to blame in a case like this but myself.” 

“Do you suppose very much of the sugar will 
come back?” inquired Andy anxiously. 

93 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“It’ll all come back, lad. I’ll make it my 
business to see that it does come back. Sure, 
Andy, it’s a high regard I have for your adver- 
tising; but in planning your advertising don’t 
lose sight of the customer. It has taken me 
years to build up this business, and in all these 
years I have tried to do the things that benefited 
the customer first and the business second. I 
don’t figure my reputation is hangin’ by a thread, 
Andy, and look forward to weatherin’ this storm 
in good shape. But we’ve learned our lesson. 
And now the thing to do is to get out a handbill 
asking the people to return the sugar they pur- 
chased if they are in any way dissatisfied with 
it. With our delayed sugar shipment coming in 
to-day, we’ll be able to make an even exchange, 
pound for pound.” 

“But you’ll lose a lot of money,” gasped Andy. 

“Sure, I’d rather lose the whole danged store 
than have a single one of my customers feel he 
didn’t get a square deal,” returned Landers 
grimly. 

Andy promised he would lose no time getting 
out the handbill and hurried over to the Gazette 
office to confer with Bud York. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Bud was startled when he heard about Lan- 
ders’ plan to call in the sugar. 

“What in the name of Sam Hill will he do 
with it?” he inquired. “Can he send it back?” 

Andy shook his head despairingly. 

“I don’t think so, Bud. Maybe he can sell it 
to a candy manufacturer or some one like that, 
but if he does he’ll have to let it go at a loss.” 

In a short time the boys had the copy ready 
for the handbill that Denny Landers had sug- 
gested and this was turned over to Bud’s father, 
together with a layout. It was Andy’s plan to 
have Chuck distribute the handbills throughout 
the town as soon as possible after they were 
printed. To reach the country people who had 
been attracted to the sale by the advertisement 
in the Gazette , he had Bud run off on the print- 
ing office addressing machine the names of all 
out-of-town subscribers and then mailed copies 
of the handbill to all names on the local rural 
routes. In this way the handbill came to the 
attention of every housewife in the community. 

THE UNBLEACHED SUGAR 

that we placed on sale last Friday and 
Saturday has been pronounced by 
some of our customers to be inferior 
95 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


to the bleached product, and, as we 
guaranteed this sugar to be in every 
way suitable for canning purposes, 
please feel free to return the sugar you 
purchased if. it is not entirely satisfac- 
tory to you. 

We were sincere in making our 
claims for the sugar, and in planning 
the sale really experienced a sense of 
gratification at being able to provide 
our customers with canning sugar at a 
saving in price. Our disappointment 
in having been denied an opportunity 
to be of service to you is keen indeed. 

And, to adjust the matter as best we 
can, we will place our entire stock of 
granulated sugar at your disposal and 
make an even exchange with you, 
pound for pound. Or, if you prefer, 
your money will be refunded. 

That we will face a loss is imma- 
terial and only mentioned in order 
that you will more clearly understand 
that we value your good will above 
everything else. 

THE LANDERS GENERAL 
STORE 

As the week drew to a close Andy figured that 
more than eight thousand pounds of sugar had 
96 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

been returned. Landers as yet had made no 
mention of whatever plans he had for dispos- 
ing of the sugar and Andy was on the point of 
asking him about the matter when Chuck tum- 
bled into the store one day with a message that 
put such thoughts out of his mind. 

“What do you know about it, Andy?” cried 
Chuck. “Aunt Tilly wants another fifty-pound 
sack of the dirty-looking sugar.” 

Andy could hardly believe his ears. 

“Honest, Chuck?” 

“She says it’s the finest flavored sugar she 
ever had for making taffy candy. And Fll say 
she’s right. Oh, boy ! She let me have a sample 
and it’s great” 

Andy’s brain was working like wildfire. 

“Chuck, if what you’re saying is true — ” 

“Of course it’s true,” flared Chuck. 

Andy grabbed his cap. 

“Come on,” he cried, taking Chuck by the 
arm. “Drive me over to Aunt Tilly’s as quick 
as you know how.” 

“What’s the idea?” demanded Chuck. 

“The idea is that we’re going into the candy- 
making business and get rid of the unbleached 
sugar at a profit,” returned Andy happily. 

97 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

At the Gazette office they picked up Bud who 
was hurried into the delivery wagon so fast that 
he forgot to remove a daub of printer’s ink that 
spotted the end of his nose. 

As the delivery wagon clattered up to Aunt 
Tilly’s front door the three boys hopped down 
and a moment later tumbled pell-mell into the 
old lady’s kitchen. 

“Dear me, what noisy boys !” cried Aunt 
Tilly, regarding them severely over the top of 
her spectacles. 

Chuck grinned. 

“Andy and Bud want to sample your candy, 
Aunt Tilly. I’ve been telling them how good 
it is.” 

“Laws-a-me, is that what you want?” said the 
old lady in tones of relief. “I thought there 
was a fire or a runaway. Well, I guess I can 
find a few pieces.” She disappeared into an- 
other room and came back a moment later with 
some of the candy on a plate. 

“Say, this is the bulliest candy I ever tasted,” 
cried Andy with sparkling eyes. 

“It’s great,” said Bud, smacking his sticky 
lips. 

Aunt Tilly flushed happily. 

98 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“I do love to make taffy candy,” she con- 
fessed. 

“How would you like to make it by the ton?” 
asked Andy. Then he told her about the eight 
thousand pounds of sugar that had been re- 
turned. Enthusiastically he outlined his scheme 
for disposing of the sugar by having her make 
it into candy. 

“But I could never make that much candy,” 
she gasped. 

“We don’t expect you to do it all at once, 
Aunt Tilly. Maybe it will take months. But if 
you will help us out I believe we can create a 
demand for the candy and sell it at thirty-five 
cents a pound. That will give Landers a profit 
of something like ten cents and allow you twenty 
cents, Aunt Tilly, for your work. I’m getting 
all excited over the scheme. It’s going to be 
fun creating a demand for a brand-new prod- 
uct. We’ll give the candy a special name, too; 
Taffy Tips or something like that.” 

“Make it Taffy Tarts,” put in Bud. 

“I’ve got it, fellows,” yelled Chuck. 

‘“AUNT TILLY’S TAFFY TARTS’ ” 

Andy gave a joyful shout and jumped up, 
dragging the other two boys to their feet. 

99 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“Three cheers for ‘Aunt Tilly’s Taffy Tarts/ 
the world’s most famous confection/’ he cried. 

“Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah !” joined in Chuck 
and Bud lustily. The old lady held her fingers 
in her ears as the three boys joined hands and 
danced about her like wild Indians. 

“Stop it !” she cried, boxing their ears. When 
quiet had been restored she turned to Andy. 

“What if I say ‘no’ to your scheme?” she de- 
manded. 

Andy grinned. 

“You’ve just got to do it, Aunt Tilly, and 
that’s all there is to it. You say you like to 
make candy. And you ought to like it all the 
more when you can earn money for doing it. 
We’ll furnish the sugar and other materials and 
pay you twenty cents for every pound you make 
for us. You can hire a couple of girls to help 
you and make forty or fifty pounds a day. Why, 
Aunt Tilly, you’ll make all kinds of money!” 

The old lady turned aside her face, because she 
felt that there were tears in her eyes and she 
did not want the boys to see them. Andy, of 
course, did not know about her straitened cir- 
cumstances and therefore did not realize the 
hope that filled her heart. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“I believe I can do it, boys,” she said after a 
moment. “Suppose you see Mr. Landers about 
it and let me know what he thinks.” 

“I guess he’ll say to go ahead when he learns 
that we can dispose of the unbleached sugar at 
a profit,” grinned Andy, happy beyond words. 
“But I’ll go right back to the store and ask him, 
Aunt Tilly. In about an hour you can expect 
Chuck back here with a whole wagonload of 
sugar.” 

“I’ll need other things, too,” pointed out the 
old lady. “Corn syrup and cornstarch and but- 
ter and salt and powdered sugar. I’ll need a 
lot of flavoring, too.” 

Andy scribbled the items on a card. 

“You’ll get everything, Aunt Tilly, and you’ll 
get it in a jiffy,” he promised. 

Denny Landers was thoughtful when he 
heard about “Aunt Tilly’s Taffy Tarts.” 

“Sure, Andy, I hardly know what to say. The 
candy tastes fine and we probably can sell a 
lot of it, but I hate to dabble along with the 
sugar that way. It’s tyin’ up a lot of money, 
lad.” 

“But if you sell the sugar in one lot you’ll 
likely lose money,” argued Andy. “Suppose, 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Mr. Landers, we try out the scheme for a week 
or two. Then if we fall down — and I don’t be- 
lieve we will — you can go ahead and sell the 
sugar.” 

“We’ll try it, Andy,” agreed Landers, though 
with some reluctance. “It looks like a fairly 
good scheme; and of course I’d rather sell the 
sugar at a profit than at a loss. Besides, it 
would do my heart good to sell the danged stuff 
right here in town, as I intended to do. I un- 
derstand the other storekeepers are havin’ a lot 
of fun over the way our sugar sale turned out — 
particularly our fat friend Hazzel across the 
street — and it would do me good to dispose of 
the sugar at a profit right under their noses.” 

“That’s the way I feel, too, Mr. Landers,” 
returned Andy spiritedly. 

It was agreed that the boys were to meet that 
night at Aunt Tilly’s to help her with the first 
batch of Taffy Tarts, so that they would know 
how much work was involved in making the 
candy and thereby learn how much they could 
figure on daily. 

When they stepped into the kitchen they 
found the old lady bending over a copper kettle 
on the stove, the contents of which steamed and 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


bubbled, giving out an aroma that caused them 
to sniff hungrily. 

"It’s almost done,” announced Aunt Tilly, 
dipping her spoon into the mixture. “See; it's 
beginning to ‘thread.’ Now, boys, you’ll find 
three aprons over there on the table and I want 
you to put them on. And go right to the sink, 
all three of you, and wash your hands. If we’re 
going to make taffy candy it’s going to be clean, 
because I’m letting you use my name and there- 
fore, if for no other reason, the candy has got 
to be clean.” 

“Gee, we look like a lot of girls,” grinned 
Chuck, fastening the apron under his arms. He 
held up the corners and began pirouetting about 
the kitchen. His clumsy performance was 
brought to a halt, however, when the old lady 
took him by the ear and led him over to the 
wash sink. 

“Now, get busy,” she ordered severely. “And 
don’t be afraid to use a little soap.” 

When the candy was cooked Aunt Tilly 
poured it into a long shallow pan to cool. Half 
an hour later she announced that it jyas ready 
to pull. 


103 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Yum! Yum! It’s bully, IT1 say,” smacked 
Andy. 

“We’ll make four different flavors,” said the 
old lady. “Andy, put this cinnamon on yours 
— just a few drops. Here’s some vanilla for 
yours, Charley. Now don’t spill it. I’ll take 
the wintergreen. William, you take this lemon.” 
Then she showed the boys how to drop the fla- 
voring on the candy as they pulled it. 

“It’s one of the tricks I learned in making 
candy,” explained Aunt Tilly. “A lot of peo- 
ple put the flavoring into the candy when it is 
cooking and the result is that it cooks away. 
None of the flavoring is lost when it is put on 
this way.” 

The boys worked industriously and soon the 
candy began to get firm and white. Just before 
it “hardened” they formed it into rolls, pow- 
dered it with sugar, and snipped it into small 
pieces with a heavy pair of shears. Then the 
pieces were well mixed in a pan and powdered 
freely with sugar to prevent the pieces sticking 
to one another; also to prevent the paper in 
which each piece was afterwards wrapped from 
sticking to the candy. When weighed the candy 
tipped the scales at better than ten pounds. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“I think we ought to make it an even figure,” 
grinned Chuck, swiping a piece. 

“Cut it out,” ordered Andy. “You’ll eat up 
all the profits.” 

Bud regarded the candy enthusiastically. 

“Three-dollars-and-fifty-cents worth,” he cried. 
“And we did the whole thing in less than two 
hours.” 

“Two dollars for Aunt Tilly and one dollar 
profit for Landers,” said Andy. 

“Say, what do I get out of it?” demanded 
Chuck. 

“You’ll get the colly wobbles if you don’t quit 
eating candy,” grinned Andy. 

Bud removed his apron and laid it across the 
back of a kitchen chair. 

“What do you say, fellows, to going to my 
studio and getting started on a plan for selling 
the candy? You know if we’re going to make 
a success of the thing, and identify this particu- 
lar candy in the minds of the people so that 
they will want to buy it and keep on buying it, 
we’ve got to find some striking way of doing it. 
Giving the candy a name helps, but there’s other 
things to take into consideration.” 

“You’re right,” returned Andy. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


The boys said good night to Aunt Tilly and 
instructed her to keep the candy till they called 
for it and to go ahead and make just as much 
as she could. Then they hurried down the 
street, now heavy with the gloom of night. 

“We’ll get out an ad for the Gazette ” planned 
Andy, when they were in Bud’s studio. “It will 
be something in the way of an announcement, 
but the copy will be written in a friendly, free- 
and-easy style, just the kind of copy to tie up 
with a nice little old lady like Aunt Tilly.” 
After a moment he added: “Fellows, how do 
you like the sound of this?” 

AUNT TILLY’S TAFFY TARTS 

Everybody in Cressfield knows Aunt 
Tilly Taylor. 

But only a few know about her won- 
derful Taffy Tarts. 

You may have your own ideas re- 
garding taffy candy, but just withhold 
judgment until you have had a chance 
to sample one of Aunt Tilly’s Taffy 
Tarts, in the flavor most pleasing to 
you. 

However indifferent you may be at 
the start, you will bubble over with en- 
106 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


thusiasm as the Taffy Tart melts in 
your mouth. 

You will be willing to go on record, 
then, as affirming that there never was 
another such confection. And you 
will smack your lips and cry for more. 

The Kiddies Will Like Aunt Tilly’s 
Taffy Tarts 

These delicious Taffy Tarts are the 
ideal confection for the little folks. 
They contain no harmful ingredients. 
In fact, nothing enters into the com- 
position of the Taffy Tarts except pure 
granulated sugar, crystal corn syrup, 
Jersey butter, cornstarch, salt, water 
and flavoring. 

In making her Taffy Tarts Aunt 
Tilly follows a recipe that was popu- 
lar in her mother’s day. But she 
doesn’t proceed exactly as her recipe 
specifies. She has learned that aside 
from set formulas there is a “knack” 
to candy making and it is this added 
something that makes Aunt Tilly’s 
Taffy Tarts supreme. 

Aunt Tilly’s Taffy Tarts come in a 
variety of pleasing flavors — cinnamon, 
vanilla, lemon, wintergreen, pepper- 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


mint, cloves — each piece wrapped 
separately, in one-pound and two- 
pound boxes, at 35c. per pound. 

And to take care of the little folks, 
who have only a few pennies to spend, 
we will sell Aunt Tilly’s Taffy Tarts, 
assorted flavors, in bulk. 

It is due directly to our influence 
that Aunt Tilly has been prevailed 
upon to manufacture her delicious 
Taffy Tarts for the general trade, and 
the entire product of her tidy, im- 
maculate kitchen will be placed at our 
disposal. 

The first assortment of Taffy Tarts 
will be placed on sale to-morrow 
morning. 

THE LANDERS GENERAL 
STORE 

Aunt Tilly’s Taffy Tarts made a big hit. At 
first the people were inclined to joke about the 
matter and made their initial purchases hoping 
that the candy would measure up to the claims 
made for it in the advertising. Then they 
bought more of the Taffy Tarts because they 
liked them. About one hundred and fifty 
pounds were available for distribution when the 
108 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


announcement appeared in the Gazette and 
these disappeared in short order. By Saturday 
night Andy had orders booked ahead for two 
hundred and fifty pounds. 

The following week Aunt Tilly’s kitchen was 
the busiest place in Cressfield. Realizing the 
importance of meeting the demand for the Taffy 
Tarts while the demand existed, Andy hired a 
girl to assist the old lady. The second week 
she delivered four hundred pounds of the Taffy 
Tarts and still the demand exceeded the supply. 

“Danged if the little divil of an Andy Blake 
isn’t buildin’ up a new industry,” declared 
Denny Landers, as he surveyed the pile of candy 
boxes on the counter, each box carrying a faith- 
ful reproduction of the little old lady who was 
making the Taffy Tarts possible. 

Chuck had a plan of his own for boosting the 
Taffy Tart sales. On delivering his groceries 
he would say to the lady of the house : 

“ We’re going to have some of the delicious 
cinnamon Taffy Tarts to-morrow, Mrs. Smith. 
Shall I include a box with your order?” Or, 
“To-morrow is our ‘vanilla’ day, Mrs. Arnold. 
Shall I bring you a box of fresh vanilla Taffy 
Tarts?” 


109 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


In the same way Andy brought the Taffy Tarts 
to the attention of the women ordering gro- 
ceries over the telephone. He prepared a big 
sign that announced from the front of the store 
the particular flavors that were on sale that day. 
Once each week he had a “mixed” day at which 
time only assorted flavors were sold. This al- 
ways pleased the children. 

In a few weeks the pile of unbleached sugar 
was noticeably smaller ; and, as it was being dis- 
posed of at a profit, Denny Landers gave up all 
thought of selling the sugar in any other way 
than through the sale of Aunt Tilly’s Taffy 
Tarts. The very evident chagrin of his com- 
petitors over the way in which matters were ad- 
justing themselves afforded him keen satis- 
faction. 

From one girl Aunt Tilly’s force increased to 
four. Gradually she took to giving more time 
to superintending affairs, training the girls to 
do the work. The boys rigged up a machine 
for pulling the candy, driven by an electric 
motor. At a small cost the local tinner pro- 
vided a cooling pan through which water cir- 
culated, thereby enabling the candy to be cooled 
quickly. This all helped to boost production. 

110 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Never in all her life had the old lady been so 
busy and so happy. Instead of drawing from 
her small bank account she was adding more 
and more to it each week. 

It never occurred to Andy that he was help- 
ing the old lady establish a permanent business 
until one afternoon Landers received a letter 
from a merchant in the neighboring town of 
Glossburg. 

While in Cressfield a few days ago, I pur- 
chased a box of your Taffy Tarts because the 
name struck me as being rather unique and the 
picture of the old lady on the box attracted me. 

Permit me to congratulate you on being able 
to secure such excellent candy. It beats any- 
thing in the way of taffy candy I have ever 
tasted. 

I could readily dispose of five hundred pounds 
of this candy in my store every week and would 
appreciate your letting me know where this can 
be secured. 

When Landers showed the letter to Andy, the 
latter lost no time hurrying over to Aunt Tilly’s. 

“Gee, Aunt Tilly, you’re getting famous,” he 
joked, after he had told her the good news. 
“First thing you know the storekeepers all over 
the country will be coaxing you to sell them your 
111 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

Taffy Tarts. You’re going to make a barrel of 
money, Aunt Tilly.” 

There was a lump in the old lady’s throat and 
she turned aside to conceal the tears in her 
eyes. Then Chuck tumbled in pell-mell with a 
telegram. It was from the same merchant who 
had sent the letter, and read : 

Supplementing letter mailed yesterday. Will 
contract for six hundred pounds weekly at 
twenty-two cents a pound if you can assure me 
sole selling rights in this town. Wire reply. 

“Gee whillikers!” exclaimed Andy, scribbling 
with his pencil. “Why, that means a weekly 
profit of more than seventy dollars, Aunt Tilly.” 

Poor Aunt Tilly could restrain the flood no 
longer. The tears gushed from her eyes and 
streamed down her furrowed cheeks. 

“I — I’m an old silly to-o cry like this, boys, 
but I — jus-st can’t help it. You’ve been so-o 
kind to me and everybody else has be-e-en so 
kind to me that I — I — ” 

Chuck was visibly uncomfortable. 

“This is getting awful sentimental,” he 
blurted. “Suppose we cut it out and go to the 
kitchen and get a hunk of fresh taffy. I don’t 
know how you people are, but I’m hungry.” 

112 


CHAPTER X 


It is not always easy to gauge the effective- 
ness of a certain individual advertising effort or 
investment. On first thought it might appear to 
some that in spending twenty dollars on a hun- 
dred-dollar sale Denny Landers was actually 
losing money, to say nothing of the extra work 
in handling the sale. Certainly the profits were 
offset by the expense of the advertising. 

As a matter of fact it was the new business 
created that enabled Denny Landers to capitalize 
on the advertising. The man was broad enough 
to recognize this fact. As his cash register 
totals mounted daily, he gave Andy full credit 
for the new business and took to placing more 
and more confidence in his bright young assist- 
ant, even to the point of giving Andy authority 
to help with the buying. 

Andy was a bit sober in the face of this added 
responsibility. It was noticeable that he now 
became more cautious and conservative, acting 
113 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


less frequently on impulse. Also he developed 
judgment. 

It was in the very latter part of June that 
Andy took advantage of another opportunity to 
add prestige to the business. 

One sultry afternoon when there was a lull 
in the busy life of the store, he came up behind 
Chuck and thumped the latter across the back 
with a rolled-up copy of the Grocers’ Bulletin. 
Chuck was breezily engaged in operating Lan- 
ders’ new electric coffee grinder, packaging the 
ground coffee in one-pound paper bags for de- 
livery the following day. 

“Chuck, I’ve got a humdinger of an idea,” 
declared Andy, his eyes sparkling enthusias- 
tically. 

“Huh ! Next time you get an idea — you 
strong-armed simp! — spring it on Denny Lan- 
ders and don’t go banging me around,” growled 
Chuck, gingerly wriggling his shoulder blades 
to make certain that there was. no disarrange- 
ment. 

“What the divil’s this I hear about an idea?” 
put in Landers from behind. 

Andy quickly thumbed over the pages of the 
magazine in his hand and pointed out an ad- 
114 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


vertisement featuring the Regal Coffee Roasting 
System. The advertisement stated that the elec- 
trically operated Regal coffee roaster was de- 
signed for use in retail grocery stores, providing 
grocers with a means of roasting their coffee 
daily instead of buying it roasted from jobbers 
and manufacturers. 

“Wouldn’t it be slick if we had one of these 
roasters?” cried Andy enthusiastically. “We 
could put on a Fresh-roasted coffee campaign in 
the Gazette and corner the entire coffee trade of 
the town.” 

Denny Landers was thoughtful as he read the 
advertisement. 

“Sure, Andy, two hundred and seventy-five 
dollars is more money than I care to spend for 
additional equipment right now,” said he slowly, 
recalling certain notes coming due in a few 
weeks. 

“But the roaster will enable us to make a lot 
more money, Mr. Landers,” argued Andy. “I’m 
confident we can more than double our coffee 
trade. It will pay for itself in a short time.” 

“Suppose we send for a catalogue,” suggested 
Landers, as a tactful means of disposing of the 
subject without dampening Andy’s enthusiasm. 

115 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“I’ll write for it to-day,” declared Andy. 

Three days later Andy was up in front ar- 
ranging a fruit display when a clean-cut young 
man bustled into the store. 

“Good morning,” said the man cheerfully. 
“Is the proprietor in?” 

“He’s out of town to-day,” returned Andy, 
recognizing the man as a salesman. “Possibly 
I can take care of you. I handle a great deal 
of the buying.” 

“Your father’s store?” 

“No. I just work here.” 

The salesman rested his portfolio on a con- 
venient counter and regarded Andy quizzically. 

“You’re pretty young to be intrusted with the 
buying, aren’t you?” 

Andy’s eyes sparkled at the implied compli- 
ment. But he realized that it was unnecessary 
to give the salesman an account of how he had 
earned the confidence of his employer. 

“What line do you handle?” he inquired. 

“A specialty — the greatest trade-booster and 
money-maker that the retail trade has ever 
known,” said the salesman spiritedly. “I rep- 
resent the Regal Coffee Roaster Company and 
116 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


have called in response to an inquiry that we 
received from your firm a few days ago.” 

From his portfolio he produced a catalogue 
illustrating and describing the Regal coffee 
roaster. He handed the catalogue to Andy, ad- 
vancing a well-organized selling appeal in favor 
of the Regal system. If there was any doubt 
in Andy’s mind regarding the practicability of 
buying green coffee from the Importing Division 
of the Regal Company and roasting it daily in 
the Regal roaster, this was speedily dispelled 
when the salesman showed him dozens of letters 
from enthusiastic merchants in that section. 

“If you’ll permit me to do so,” said the sales- 
man persuasively, “I’ll have one of our roasters 
expressed to you on thirty-day free trial, and if 
it doesn’t work out exactly as I say, ship it back 
to the factory collect and you won’t be out a 
penny. And another thing: If you accept my 
proposition to-day, I’ll agree not to solicit any 
of the other local merchants inside of two 
months. That will enable you to get the system 
to working; and if you once get a grip on the 
coffee trade of the town you ought to be able to 
hold it. Here is a little memorandum of agree- 
ment that you will want to sign so that you will 
117 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


know yon are protected on the thirty-day free 
trial. As yon see, it is not an order form — 
simply an agreement on our part to ship you 
the roaster and on your part to give it a thor- 
ough trial.” 

Andy was “sold” — there was little question of 
that. He fairly itched to accept the fountain 
pen that the salesman was holding out to him. 
But he hesitated. He wasn’t quite certain that 
Denny Landers would want him to sign the 
agreement. He had been given authority to pur- 
chase stable merchandise; but this was differ- 
ent. Certainly, he didn’t want his employer to 
feel that he was overstepping the authority in- 
vested in him. 

The salesman, reading the hesitation in Andy’s 
face, explained that the roaster could be paid 
for in small monthly payments. This decided 
the matter for Andy and he took the out- 
stretched pen and signed the agreement. Ac- 
cording to the terms of the agreement the 
roaster was to be delivered within five days, to- 
gether with one thousand pounds of Type 3 
Santos green coffee. 


CHAPTER XI 


The following morning Andy took the signed 
agreement to Landers. When the proprietor 
saw what it was his rugged face was a study. 

“I hesitated about closing the deal in your 
absence, Mr. Landers, because I didn’t want to 
overstep my authority,” explained Andy, regard- 
ing Landers a trifle anxiously. “But the chances 
are if I had asked the salesman to wait until 
to-day to see you he would have sold the roaster 
to one of the other merchants. I knew you 
wouldn’t want any one to get ahead of you. Be- 
sides, it’s a free trial ; you won’t have to pay out 
a cent on the roaster until it has proved up.” 

The signed agreement held Landers’ complete 
attention for several minutes. He knew the 
Regal system was practical, but he had never 
seriously considered installing one of the roast- 
ters in his store. He was doubtful, in a way, 
if it would be good business to urge his cus- 
tomers to adopt new methods of buying coffee 
when they were very well satisfied with existing 
119 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


methods. He had in mind that old saying: “It 
is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.” Things 
might not work out as Andy pictured. Still, he 
had a world of confidence in Andy’s judgment 
in such matters. And to get the “jump” on his 
competitors was a most pleasing thought. At 
length he looked up with the corners of his 
mouth wrinkled into a whimsical smile. 

“Sure, Andy,” said he slowly, “you’re the kind 
of a lad that was cut out for big business. 
You’re a self-starter in every sense of the word. 
And danged if I ain’t glad to back you up ! It’s 
all right, lad. Go ahead with your advertis- 
ing. We’ll put the thing across.” 

Andy was to meet Bud and Chuck that night 
in the former’s studio, and, bolting his supper, he 
hurried down town to keep the appointment. 

“I’m glad to see you looking so happy,” 
grinned Bud, glancing up from his drawing 
board as Andy tumbled into the untidy room. 
“It’s a pretty good sign that Landers hasn’t tied 
a can on you for spending two hundred and 
seventy-five dollars of his hard-earned money.” 

“Shucks !” snorted Andy with exaggerated un- 
concern. “I knew he’d approve of me buying 
the roaster.” 


120 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Huh ! You don't hate yourself or nothin',” 
grunted Chuck, glancing up from the magazine 
that he was reading. 

“When do you expect the roaster to get here?” 
inquired Bud. 

“Within a week. And that means we've got 
to get busy and let the people around here know 
about the superior quality of our Fresh-roasted 
coffee. I've got a dandy scheme in mind. We'll 
call on a number of Cressfield ladies and gather 
a dozen or more good recipes for making coffee. 
It may seem to you that there are just a few 
ways of making coffee, but mother tells me there 
are several ways. Nearly every woman has her 
own pet method. These recipes can be printed 
in booklet form, with an appropriate title — ” 

“I've got it !'' cried Bud. 

A BETTER CUP OF COFFEE 

“Bully boy!” complimented Andy, slapping 
Bud on the shoulders. Then he went on : “We'll 
give away the booklets at the store. You can 
bet your Sunday shirt that each woman in town 
will want one when she learns that the recipes 
featured in the booklet were provided by other 
121 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


local women. And the women who furnished 
the recipes will be tickled to see their names in 
print. While it won’t appear as though these 
ladies are directly indorsing the new Fresh- 
roasted coffee, still the reader will get that in- 
ference. On each page of the booklet we’ll work 
in a few paragraphs about our Fresh-roasted 
coffee. For instance : 

Keep your Fresh-roasted coffee fresh — 
preserve the aroma to the last. Fruit 
jars are ideal for this purpose. 

When serving hot coffee made from 
Fresh-roasted stock, serve it hot . 
Never recook it. 

Bud suggested: 

“Why not make the title of the booklet — A 
Better Cwp of Coffee — the title of an ad for this 
week’s Gazette? As I see it, ‘better coffee’ is 
the big idea of the whole campaign.” 

“You’re right,” agreed Andy. 

The boys carried their work through as 
planned, and when the advertisement appeared 
in the Gazette the following afternoon it at- 
tracted a great deal of favorable attention. 

122 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 
A BETTER CUP OF COFFEE 

If you enjoy a good cup of coffee — 
coffee that brings the sparkle of in- 
dustry to your eyes and fills your 
heart with the spirit of contentment 
— then, as a customer of ours, you are 
scheduled for a rare treat indeed. 

By special arrangement we have in- 
stalled in our store the Regal Coffee 
System and will hereafter supply our 
customers, at no advance in price, with 
coffee that is Fresh-roasted. 

This is a new merchandising practice, 
being adopted by leading retail gro- 
cery and provision stores in the more 
progressive centers, and we are glad to 
be able to extend to our customers 
this up-to-the-minute service. 

FREEH-ROASTED 

You will find that there is all the dif- 
ference in the world between our 
Fresh-roasted coffee and coffee handled 
in the ordinary way— that may have 
been roasted several months or a year 
before being delivered at your home. 
It is a fact that, while green coffee 
improves with age, roasted coffee rap- 
idly deteriorates. This was proved 
123 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


during the recent war. A series of 
government tests brought out that the 
coffee being delivered at the canton- 
ments lost thirty per cent, of its drink- 
ing qualities after it had been roasted 
thirty days. So the government in- 
stalled roasting plants in all the can- 
tonments and camps throughout the 
country and also in Europe in order 
that the men in service could be fur- 
nished with coffee Fresh-roasted. 

If you wish to prove the extent to 
which roasted coffee deteriorates, 
place a small quantity of ground coffee 
in a paper bag and let it stand over 
night. The next morning the bag will 
be thoroughly saturated with coffee oil, 
which is the goodness of the coffee. 
That is why coffee dealers urge that 
ground coffee be kept in air-tight re- 
ceptacles. 

Small wonder that housewives com- 
plain that there is a “difference” in the 
quality of the coffee delivered to them, 
and find it difficult at times to prepare 
coffee of uniform quality for the table. 

FRESH-ROASTED COFFEE GOES 
FURTHER 

In our Fresh-roasted coffee you get 
124 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


the full strength of the coffee berry. 
Therefore a pound of the coffee that 
you will buy from us will go further 
than a pound of the other kind — and 
you really save money on top of getting 
the best coffee that the market affords. 
The bulk coffee we will handle, pur- 
chasing the green product in large 
quantities direct from the Importing 
Division of the Regal Company at New 
York Cityj will be Type 3 Santos, 
grown in the principal coffee-produc- 
ing section of Brazil and shipped from 
the Port of Santos. From this port is 
shipped annually two thirds of all the 
coffee consumed in the world. 

AFTER-DINNER COFFEE 

Many people prefer to drink black 
coffee, or what is commonly known as 
After-dinner coffee without cream. 
Coffee for this purpose will be roasted 
a little heavier than our regular 
Breakfast coffee. It will be about the 
color of dark chocolate. Breakfast 
coffee, in which you will use cream and 
sugar, will be roasted to a cinnamon 
color. 

If you relish a cup of After-dinner 
coffee you will be delighted at the dif- 
125 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


ference in taste between the “black” 
coffee that you have been in the habit 
of getting and the coffee that we will 
supply. 

OLD COFFEE STOCK TO BE 
CLOSED OUT 

Naturally, in changing over to the 
Regal System, we have on hand a lim- 
ited supply of roasted coffee in the 
bulk, the same as you have been get- 
ting right along. Because we believe 
this to be inferior to our Fresh - 
roasted coffee we will close out this 
entire stock at a discount of twenty 
per cent. As a convenience to our cus- 
tomers we will continue to handle the 
trade-marked packaged coffees. 
Beginning next Monday all bulk coffee 
handled in our store will be Fresh- 
roasted — roasted daily in the special 
electrically operated roaster that we 
have installed and which we will be 
pleased to demonstrate to those of our 
customers who are interested. 

FREE BOOKLET 

Be sure and get one of the “Better- 
126 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


coffee” booklets that we are giving 
away. 

Even those housewives who have long 
enjoyed the reputation of being first- 
class coffee-makers will be glad to have 
this booklet on hand, because it con- 
tains coffee-making recipes gathered 
from a number of homes right here 
in Cressfield. 

You may have a copy by calling at our 
store; or your copy will be delivered 
with your initial order of Fresh* 
roasted coffee. 

THE LANDERS GENERAL 
STORE 

Throughout, it was a sound piece of advertis- 
ing and many customers complimented Denny 
Landers and Andy on their progressiveness. On 
Friday and Saturday a number of orders were 
placed for coffee Fresh-roasted for delivery the 
following week. Eight hundred booklets were 
given out at the store. The following week 
coffee sales were trebled, and the thing that 
pleased Andy was the fact that Landers was 
selling coffee to people whom he recognized as 
customers of other local stores. 

127 


CHAPTER XII 


As can be imagined Landers’ new success did 
not please all of his fellow merchants. J. P. 
Hazzel in particular resented the innovation of 
the coffee roaster. He voiced his feelings to 
Charley Corey, the arrogant president of the 
Cressfield Savings Bank. Hazzel knew that the 
banker cherished a grievance against Landers 
and cunningly set about to make capital of this 
fact. 

“Why don’t you threaten to take up his notes 
if he doesn’t cut out his crazy advertising 
stunts?” the merchant suggested. “I bet if you 
got after him he’d set up and take notice.” 

Mr. Corey swelled visibly. 

“I — er — hardly have an opportunity to go 
about matters in that way,” returned the banker. 
“You see, Landers hasn’t been doing business 
with us since the — er — time his impudent clerk 
turned the hose on my son. I understand Colo- 
nel Klugston has been backing him. Possibly 
if I had a little talk with the Colonel — ” 

128 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

A few days later the banker made it a point 
to be on the sidewalk just without the door of 
the bank when Colonel Klugston, an impulsive, 
eccentric old gentleman, came stomping down 
the street, punctuating each stiff step with a 
thump of his dog-headed walking stick. 

“Just the man I wanted to see,” greeted the 
banker with exaggerated friendliness. “I have 
a business matter to discuss with you, Colonel. 
Suppose we step into my private office.” 

When they were seated in deep, upholstered 
leather chairs, Corey began cunningly: “I — er 
— just learned about your business dealings with 
this man Landers. As your banker, sir, I feel 
called upon to caution you. I would greatly 
regret to see you involved in a matter of Landers’ 
insolvency. As a conservative banking institu- 
tion we do not consider Landers a good risk.” 

Following the dictates of his kindly heart, the 
old Colonel stiffened perceptibly. 

“I consider Mr. Landers a very honest man, 
suh,” said he gravely. 

“I am not questioning Landers’ honesty — 
rather, I would say he is indiscreet,” put in 
Corey quickly, watching the Colonel with cat- 
like eyes. “I — er — refer to the manner in which 
129 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


he is letting a boy run his business. I predict 
that Landers will shortly go under, and would 
suggest that you reconsider very seriously mak- 
ing him any further loans until he agrees to run 
his own business and not let a mere chit of a 
boy with crazy advertising ideas run it for him. 
Why, this last move — this expensive coffee 
roaster — is the acme of extravagance! And I 
understand that the Blake boy actually signed 
the order in the absence of Landers. Think of 
that ! And with your money at stake, sir !” 

The Colonel was impressed. He had no rea- 
son to question the banker’s motive in the matter 
and thanked Corey courteously. The foxy 
banker was highly elated when he saw the im- 
petuous old gentleman start away rather stiffly 
in the direction of the Landers store. 

The store presented a busy scene when the 
Colonel stomped in through the door. In the 
dry-goods section Miss Cummins was dividing 
her time between several customers. Andy was 
bobbing around, trying to operate the coffee 
roaster and wait on people at the same time. 
The coffee roaster filled the atmosphere with a 
pleasing aroma. Under ordinary circumstances 
this would have brought an expression of de- 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


light from the Colonel because he was a con- 
noisseur of good coffee. Just now, however, he 
scowled at the offending roaster and stomped 
across to where Denny Landers was busy at 
work. 

“Homin’, Colonel,” greeted the storekeeper, 
glancing up with an inquiring grin on his good- 
natured face. “Sure, you’re steppin’ it off like 
a sixteen-vear-old. What can I do for you this 
mornin’, Colonel?” 

“I called to see you about your notes, suh,” 
replied the Colonel stiffly. Landers recognized 
a very definite unfriendliness in the attitude of 
the impetuous old gentleman and a troubled ex- 
pression flashed across his face. 

“Let’s go into the back room, Colonel,” he 
suggested, lowering his voice. He brought a 
chair for the Colonel and seated himself on a 
cracker-box directly in front of the old gentle- 
man. “What’s your pleasure, Colonel?” he in- 
quired, leaning forward earnestly. 

“I see by the newspaper that you have been 
investing heavily in an expensive coffee roaster, 
suh.” 

Landers’ face was grim, yet puzzled in its ex- 
pression. He was well acquainted with the ixn- 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


pulsive and oftentimes unreasonable character- 
istics of the old gentleman and felt pretty 
certain that it was a matter of impulse that had 
brought him fuming into the store. 

“Sure, Colonel, I need the coffee roaster in 
order to carry on my business,” he said earnestly. 

“Nonsense!” sputtered the Colonel, banging 
the floor with his walking stick. “You are in- 
vesting your money foolishly. As one of your 
creditors, I protest. If you persist in buying 
such nonsensical things I shall demand that you 
take up your notes coming due next week. I 
understand that at the bank you are considered 
a very poor risk, suh.” 

A light dawned on Denny Landers. With a 
cry he sprang to his feet, his fists clenched, the 
fighting blood of his highstrung ancestors surg- 
ing hotly through his veins. 

“Colonel,” he gritted, “has that skunk of a 
Charley Corey — the divil take his dirty soul! — 
been talkin’ to you about my business affairs?” 

“Tut! Tut!” sputtered the Colonel evasively. 
“That is aside from the issue, suh. I am acting 
on my own judgment.” 

“Suppose you tell me exactly what you want 
me to do,” said Landers slowly. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

With the matter put up to him in this direct, 
common-sense way, the impulsive old gentleman 
was momentarily nonplused. Indeed, what did 
he want? He hardly knew. He had permitted 
himself to be carried along on the high tide of 
impulse without any definite sense of direction. 
Even momentary reflection convinced him that 
Landers was not the exceedingly doubtful risk 
that the banker had pictured. Of a sudden it 
dawned on him that Corey had been guided by 
ulterior motives in recommending that he break 
off business relations with the storekeeper. It 
was characteristic of the old gentleman that he 
experienced a tinge of vexation at the thought 
of how he had played into Corey’s hands. But 
to drop the matter now would be embarrassing. 
It would be better, the Colonel figured, to back 
out of the situation with as much grace as he 
could muster. 

“Er — this coffee roaster,” he began lamely. 

“The coffee roaster is on trial,” said Landers 
grimly. 

“Just so! Just so!” sputtered the Colonel. 
“It may be your intention to return it. That 
will be quite satisfactory, suh.” 

Landers slowly shook his tousled head. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“No, Colonel; I intend to keep it,” he stated. 
“Sure, I would be foolish to return it. It’s a 
big money-maker.” 

“Tut! Tut!” said the Colonel, again thump- 
ing the floor with his walking stick. “It is some- 
thing you can get along without. I suggest that 
you send it back. If you will do that my con- 
fidence in your business judgment will be re- 
vived, suh. I will then arrange to renew your 
notes.” 

“Doesn’t that strike you as bein’ just a little 
bit unfair, Colonel?” asked Landers gravely, 
looking the old gentleman squarely in the eye 
and measuring his words slowly. “I can give 
you figures showing that the roaster is makin’ 
money for me ” 

“I have named my conditions,” sputtered the 
Colonel, getting up with a fine display of dignity 
and stomping out of the store. 

That the old gentleman was unreasonable 
never once escaped Denny Landers. And at the 
thought that his old enemy, Charley Corey, was 
at the bottom of the matter a wild fury gripped 
him. With a gloomy face he broke the news to 
Andy. 

For a brief instant Andy was so stunned with 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


disappointment that he could not say a word. 
Rebellious tears welled in his eyes. Then his 
voice came to him and he cried passionately: 

“Oh! How unreasonable! How unfair! 
Why, the roaster is making all kinds of money 
for us. And after our advertising campaign it 
would be a terrible mistake to go back to the 
old method. We will be the laughing stock of 
the town ! Can’t you borrow money at the bank, 
sir?” 

Landers slowly shook his tousled head. He 
preferred not to tell Andy that Corey had de- 
clined to accept his notes at the bank following 
the quarrel that Andy had had with Clarence 
Corey. Landers had won the banker’s enmity 
by refusing to discharge Andy. 

“I realize the Colonel is in the wrong, lad,” 
said Landers slowly. “But, on the other hand, 
I can’t afford to antagonize him right now. I 
have notes coming due that I want him to renew. 
It’s my suggestion that we forget about keepin’ 
the roaster in order to preserve my credit.” 

Andy’s eyes filled with angry tears as he went 
in search of Bud. Into Bud’s sympathetic ears 
he poured the whole miserable story of how an 
unkind Fate had invested in an unreasonable 
135 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


old gentleman the power to wreck the advertis- 
ing structure that had been erected after days 
of conscientious planning and hard work. Bud, 
in turn, was scarcely less dismayed than his 
companion. 


CHAPTER XIII 


It is always difficult to withhold anything in 
the way of “news” in a small town, and in the 
course of a day or two J. P. Hazzel learned, with 
keen satisfaction, that Landers was planning 
to return the much-advertised coffee roaster 
after the expiration of the thirty-day trial 
period. Immediately, he telegraphed the Regal 
company, stating his willingness to take over 
the roaster at the price quoted to his competi- 
tor. It pleased him to contemplate that Landers 
had created a market for Fresh-roasted coffee 
that he — Hazzel — would be able to control by 
the simple process of installing the roaster and 
putting an occasional inexpensive advertisement 
in the local newspaper. 

Hazzel’s telegram, relayed to the salesman in 
the field, caused the latter a measure of genuine 
surprise. On arriving in Cressfield he came di- 
rectly to Denny Landers’ store. Andy told him 
what had happened, in a voice that sagged with 
discouragement. 


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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“By George ! This is too bad,” said the sales- 
man gravely, regarding Andy’s troubled face 
with sincere sympathy. He had taken a great 
liking to Andy. “I’m mighty sorry things have 
turned out this way. It may seem to you that 
it doesn’t mean much to me one way or another, 
because in either event I’m bound to make a sale. 
But I’ll say in all sincerity that I’d rather have 
the roaster remain right here than to see it in- 
stalled in the store across the street. This old 
Colonel must be a hard-boiled bird to take such 
an unreasonable stand.” 

“He’s a pretty fine old gentleman in some 
ways,” Andy conceded dismally, “but he’s 
stubborn as a balky mule about certain things. 
He doesn’t very often back down after once com- 
mitting himself.” 

“But he couldn’t very well object to your keep- 
ing the roaster if you could arrive at some spec- 
tacular way of making it pay for itself. For 
instance, you might put on a big peanut sale. 
The roaster, you know, can be used for peanuts 
as well as coffee. And there’s big profit in pea- 
nuts — at least one hundred per cent.” 

Andy’s enthusiasm was resurrected on the in- 
stant. Like a flash he pictured a peanut stand 
138 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

in front of the store — sacked peanuts piled high 
on the counter — a wildly happy throng crowding 
the sidewalk. In imagination he could hear the 
click! click! of the cash register as the peanut 
sales were rung up — sales running into the hun- 
dreds and thousands. 

“By cracky, we can do it !” he cried excitedly, 
his eyes snapping with rekindled energy. “Next 
week the Legion boys are going to put on a big 
home-coming, with a merry-go-round in the 
square and side-show tents set up in the streets 
and a fortune teller and doll racks and every- 
thing. It’s going to be the biggest celebration 
Cressfield has ever known. Why, with a peanut 
stand in front of the store we can take in all 
kinds of money! It’ll be fun, too. Gee-miny!” 

The salesman grinned like the big boy that he 
was. 

“By George! You’ve got me all excited,” he 
enthused. “I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll keep 
away from old fatty across the street for a few 
days, and next week I’ll be on hand to help you 
run the stand. It’s going to be a circus ! I can 
work the near-by towns in the forenoons and 
come back to Cressfield in the afternoons and 
evenings. Oh, boy ! I feel just like a kid again ! 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

And maybe you think I don’t shine when it comes 
to handing out a classy line of chatter. How’s 
this? — 

Here you are, ladies and gents — a 
grea-at big sack of meaty, Fresh - 
roasted peanuts for only a dime — ten 
cents. Gather ’round, folks, and if you 
don’t feel that you’ve got your money’s 
worth after you’ve invested a silver 
dime in a sack of our Fresh-roasted, 
hand-culled, jumbo peanuts, say the 
word and I’ll sing you a , little song I 
composed myself. Right this way, to 
get a grea-at big sack of Fresh-roasted 
peanuts for only a dime — ten cents.” 

“I’ll see you next week,” he grinned boyishly, 
and grabbed his portfolio. 

The home-coming was to be a five-day affair, 
starting Tuesday. The merry-go-round and 
other attractions put in an appearance early 
Monday morning, and in a short time the usually 
quiet streets were roped off and the entire down- 
town district took on a decidedly holiday as- 
pect. Temporary lunch stands sprang up and 
the greasy odor of frying hamburger tainted the 
sultry atmosphere. 


140 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

True to his promise, the salesman bustled into 
the store late Tuesday afternoon and straight- 
way donned a big white apron, rolled up his 
sleeves and proceeded to take an active part in 
operating the peanut stand. His “spiel,” as he 
called it, never failed to draw laughing atten- 
tion from the good-natured revelers, and the 
dimes rolled across the counter in a steady 
stream. The roaster was kept continuously in 
operation throughout the afternoon and evening, 
but in the busiest periods it failed to turn out 
Fresh-roasted peanuts as fast as the boys could 
sell them. After the first day they took turns 
roasting and sacking peanuts in the morning, 
so that they would be able to take care of the 
afternoon and evening rush. 

That week the boys put in long, toilsome 
hours, and, as Denny Landers daily observed 
their intense industry, there grew up in his hon- 
est, manly heart a feeling that was vastly bigger 
than gratitude. Yet there were moments when 
he was gripped with anxiety. He was fearful 
that when the boys, in their hour of supreme 
triumph, approached Colonel Kingston with the 
news that they had earned sufficient money to 
pay for the roaster, they would get a stubborn 
141 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


rebuff from the eccentric old gentleman. Lan- 
ders realized how this would dishearten them. 
It came to him at length that the situation was 
purely one for tactful procedure, and with a cer- 
tain plan in mind he headed toward the Colo- 
nels old-fashioned home Friday evening. 

“Fm indeed delighted to see you this evening, 
suh,” welcomed the hospitable old gentleman, 
leading the way to his library. With a fine dis- 
play of courtesy, he drew up one of the most 
comfortable chairs in the room for his guest. 

Landers was pleasurably conscious of the 
quiet refinement of his surroundings. From the 
bookcases that lined the walls the literary com- 
panions of the old Colonel blinked at him in a 
whole-hearted spirit of friendship. The shaded 
light of the table lamp sent shadowy elves danc- 
ing into the far corners. At one side a curtain 
ruffled gently as a breath of air was wafted in 
from the garden. Through this open window 
came faintly the even-measured tones of the 
merry-go-round organ and the laughter of the 
carnival crowd. 

“I called to get your advice on a little matter 
that’s been worryin’ me lately, Colonel,” began 
Landers thoughtfully. 

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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


The Colonel arched his hands in his lap and 
nodded his head gravely. 

“You will always find me willing to give ad- 
vice where I am prepared to do so, suh,” he re- 
turned earnestly. 

“It’s about the coffee roaster, Colonel. Sure, 
I’m in a divil of a predicament. I was intendin’ 
to return it, and now I can’t do it. Those 
danged boys — that high-strung Andy Blake and 
the freckle-faced Wilson kid and Abe York’s boy 
— conceived the idea of clearin’ enough money 
through the sale of peanuts this week to pay for 
the roaster, and I understand they’re within 
fifty dollars of their goal. To-morrow, most 
likely, they’ll be around to see you and explain 
how the roaster can continue in the store with- 
out costing me a cent. Sure, the big-hearted 
little divils have worked like nailers all week. 
They’ve been at it early and late. I ain’t got 
it in me to tell ’em that in spite of what they’ve 
done the roaster has got to go back. I was 
wonderin’, Colonel, if I could get you to tell ’em 
for me.” 

“Why— er — to return the roaster under such 
conditions would be most unreasonable and un- 
businesslike, suh,” returned the impulsive old 
143 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


gentleman spiritedly. “I am surprised that you 
would even countenance such an idea, suh!” 

“Then you feel I ought to keep it?” questioned 
Landers gently, the suspicion of a twinkle in his 
kindly eyes. 

“Most assuredly, suh.” 

Landers sighed deeply, as though a load had 
been lifted from his mind. 

“Sure, Colonel, it’s a wonderful help to me 
to get your opinion on such matters,” he said 
gently. 

This weighty matter disposed of, the Colonel 
engaged his guest in a spirited game of checkers 
which terminated in a complete victory for the 
host. It was two hours later when Landers 
started for home. The carnival revelers were 
still thronging the streets. In the distance he 
could hear the merry-go-round organ and ha- 
rangue of the side-show barkers. In the lull 
caused by the organ shifting to a new tune he 
plainly heard Andy call out: 

“Right this way, ladies and gents. A grea-at 
big sack of Fresh-roasted peanuts for only a 
dime — ten cents.” 

“Sure, I’m glad for Andy’s sake that the old 
gentleman talked me into keepin’ the roaster,” 
144 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

mused Landers whimsically. Then he chuckled 
merrily as he turned in at his gate and observed 
a trail of peanut shells on the sidewalk. Plainly 
his wife had fallen before the lure of the car- 
nival. Denny was hopeful that she had brought 
home an extra sack of Fresli-roasted peanuts for 
him. 


CHAPTER XIV 


Andy was ambitions to put on a sale that 
would carry a definite appeal to Cressfield’s 
little folks. The idea came to him when he was 
working on the Taffy Tart advertising, and even 
the busy program of paying for the coffee roaster 
did not obscure the thought in his active mind. 
When he talked the matter over with Denny 
Landers, the big-hearted Irishman became en- 
thusiastic. 

Landers loved children in no small measure. 
It pleased him mightily to cuddle them into his 
strong arms and carry them off into fairyland 
with his wonderful stories of enchanted prin- 
cesses and blustering giants. He was “Uncle 
Denny” to a great number of little folks. 

While Andy shared Landers’ love for children, 
his motive in staging the special sale was in no 
way sentimental. He rightly looked upon Cress- 
field’s boys and girls as the town’s men and 
women of a coming day, and saw where it would 
146 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

benefit the business in its span of life to firmly 
establish the store in youth’s receptive mind. 

“The children are so crazy over your fairy 
stories, I’m inclined to make giants and prin- 
cesses the basic part of our advertising appeal,” 
he mentioned to Denny Landers, when a Hot 
Cross Bun sale had been scheduled for the com- 
ing Saturday, and the buns ordered from John 
Balkman, the local baker. “We’ll give our giant 
a funny name like Rig-a-Jig or Fiddle Fig. It 
would be my idea to come out with a full page 
ad in next Thursday’s Gazette . There will be 
copy telling how good the buns are; and in the 
ad we’ll feature the beginning of our giant story. 
We’ll print enough of the story to flag the in- 
terest of the kids and make them want to know 
how the story turns out. At the point where it 
breaks off we’ll insert a paragraph explaining 
that the balance of the story has been printed in 
booklet form and a copy will be given to each 
customer purchasing an order of Hot Cross 
Buns. I’ll get Bud to work up a clever drawing 
of the giant and his castle, and when the children 
see this in the Gazette they’ll want to know 
what it’s all about and will ask to have the story 
147 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


read to them — this in the event that they are 
too young to read it for themselves.” 

“Fine !” encouraged Landers. “Sure, if you 
need any help with your giant story, just call 
on me. It’s a divil of a poor hand Fd be at 
writin’ your kind of advertising; but when it 
comes to spielin’ bunk about fairies and giants 
Fm there with bells on. You know, Andy, back 
in Ireland we had real fairies.” 

“I believe you,” laughed Andy. 

That evening Andy wrote his giant story — 
picturing the wicked giant, Fiddle-Fig, living in 
a marvelous castle situated on a great rock, with 
a giantess for a housekeeper, and Doodle Birds 
in the courtyard. To arrive at the castle one 
had to pass through seven massive iron gates. 
The oppressed Valley people lived in sod houses 
on the land surrounding the giant’s home. Lit- 
tle Jibs, the story hero, was a Valley boy; and 
the manner in which he disposed of the wicked 
giant was very thrilling indeed. 

As Andy labored faithfully in the shaded light 
of the reading lamp, guiding manly little Jibs 
through his maze of adventures, the thought 
came to Mrs. Blake that this was an unusual 
idea to employ in advertising. Yet she could 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


see where the giant story would appeal to the 
little folks and get them to talking of Landers 
and his store. No doubt things would work out 
as Andy wanted them to. 

The amazing advertisement caused an excit- 
ing moment in Cressfield’s juvenile life. No 
youthful “giant killer” ever sprang into more 
sudden popularity than Little Jibs. Children 
coming into the store Friday begged Denny Lan- 
ders to tell them how the story ended. As can 
be imagined this delighted Landers immensely. 
On the following day, when the Hot-Cross-Bun 
sale was in progress, he gave personal atten- 
tion to distributing the booklets. Practically 
every child in town received a copy, and more 
than two thousand buns were disposed of. 

There was one man in Cressfield, who had had 
a part in the success of the bun sale, yet who 
was not at all pleased over the way things were 
working out. This was Balkmajn, the baker. 

In his grasping, narrow-minded way, Balkman 
kept repeating to himself that it was from his 
toil that Landers was reaping a rich harvest. 
Why should he be called upon to sell the buns 
to Landers at wholesale when he could retail 
them over his own counter and thereby obtain 
149 


ANDY BLAKE IN, ADVERTISING 

a longer profit? In view of the increased profit 
to be gained, he would even be justified in put- 
ting a small advertisement in the Gazette , to the 
effect that the much-desired Hot Cross Buns 
could be secured at his bakery at a slightly lower 
price than Landers was charging. After much 
mental effort he produced the following copy, 
which he turned over to Mr. York the following 
Wednesday. 

Buy Your Hot Cross Buns at Our 
Bakery and Save Money 

On sale all day Saturday at 
14c. per dozen. 

We do not give away fairy stories 
to help sell our goods. Quality is what 
we depend on. 

Be wise! Buy your Hot Cross Buns 
where you can get them the cheapest. 

BALKMAN’S BAKERY 

After he had carefully reviewed the copy, Mr. 
York regarded the baker with an expression of 
uncertainty. 

“I don’t quite get the purpose of your adver- 
tising,” said he slowly. “Do I understand 
150 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

you’re going to supply Landers with Hot Cross 
Buns, and also sell them at your bakery in com- 
petition to him?” 

A dogged light came into Balkman’s eyes. 

“I haven’t agreed to furnish him with buns 
every week,” he returned. “Guess I’ve got a 
right to bake Hot Cross Buns for my own trade, 
if I want to, instead of selling ’em to him.” 

Bud overheard the conversation. Rather 
grimly he put in : 

“Do you call that giving Landers a square 
deal?” 

“What I do or don’t do is my business. It 
doesn’t concern you as long as I pay my adver- 
tising bills,” retorted Balkman angrily. 

Bud was dismayed. Plainly, he thought, there 
could be no Hot Cross Bun sale at the Landers 
store if Balkman, the town’s only baker, refused 
to provide the necessary buns. 

“Say, Andy, have you placed your order with 
Balkman for this week’s buns?” he cried breath- 
lessly, when he tumbled into the Landers store 
a few moments later. 

“Not yet,” returned Andy, regarding his ex- 
cited chum quizzically. “What’s on your mind?” 

“He’s planning to double-cross you,” declared 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

Bud. Then he gave Andy a hurried account of 
what had taken place in the printing office. 
Andy shared his companion’s dismay. 

“The old crook !” cried Andy. “Why, he 
doesn’t know when he’s well off. He’s trying to 
play hog, that’s what. Evidently he thinks the 
people are ‘Hot Cross Bun’ crazy, and doesn’t 
realize that the thing that turned the trick was 
our advertising. I just hope he bakes up a big 
batch of buns and gets stung. That would serve 
him right. I knew he counted the pennies, but 
I never imagined he’d pull a crooked deal like 
this.” 

“Your Saturday sale will be knocked sky-high 
if he refuses to supply you with buns,” put in 
Bud gloomily. 

“No, sir-ee, Bob!” declared Andy grimly. 
“We’ll get the buns in Glossburg. I guess Balk- 
man isn’t the only baker in the country who can 
bake Hot Cross Buns. I’ll go over to Glossburg 
on the electric car this afternoon and see about 
getting them.” 

“Maybe you ought to call on Balkman first,” 
suggested Bud. 

Mrs. Balkman, short, fat and talkative, was 
braiding the flaxen hair of Mary Ellen, her five- 
152 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


year-old daughter, when the two boys hurriedly 
entered the store. 

“Is Mr. Balkman in?” Andy inquired shortly. 

“He’s out back in the bakery. Wait a minute 
and I’ll call him. John! John!” 

“How about our Hot Cross Buns for this week, 
Mr. Balkman?” Andy inquired, when the baker 
lifted aside the chenille curtain in the doorway 
leading to Mrs. Balkman’s sitting-room and 
kitchen in the back part of the store building. 

Balkman scowled. 

“I can’t bake ’em for you no more,” he re- 
turned. 

“But you know we are depending on you,” 
reminded Andy grimly. He was burning with 
angry indignation, but struggled to keep the heat 
out of his voice. 

“Well, I can’t, and that’s all there is to it,” 
said Balkman. 

“You’re going to lose out in the end if you 
stick to that decision, Mr. Balkman. It simply 
means that we’ll get the buns at Glossburg, and 
handle the other baker’s line instead of yours.” 

“You can’t threaten me in my own store,” 
stormed Balkman. “Guess I know how to run 
my own business. If you want to buy your 
153 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


bakery goods from Glossburg, go buy ’em there 
for all I care.” 

“That’s what we’ll do all right,” declared 
Andy grimly, turning and leaving the store. 

Suiting his action to his words he made a hur- 
ried trip to Glossburg that afternoon, where he 
succeeded in placing an order for the necessary 
buns, to be delivered on the first electric car into 
Cressfield Saturday morning. He explained the 
situation to the Glossburg baker, pointing out 
that Landers would probably quit handling 
Balkman’s bakery goods, in which event the 
Glossburg baker promised to supply the neces- 
sary goods, making two deliveries daily, one 
early in the morning and the second at two- 
thirty in the afternoon. 

Denny Landers, of course, knew what was 
going on, but he was strangely noncommittal. 
While Andy was inclined to see only the unrea- 
sonable side of John Balkman’s character, Lan- 
ders knew from his years of association with the 
man that he had many commendable qualities. 
He regretted that the trouble had come up, pre- 
ferring to associate with Balkman in a spirit of 
friendship. When he learned through Chuck 
Saturday afternoon that Balkman was going to 
154 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


be left with more than a thousand Hot Cross 
Buns on his hands, genuine regret gripped his 
warm heart. At length he cornered Andy. 

“Sure, lad, it’s wonderin’ I am how our bun 
sale is cornin’ along,” he said craftily. 

“It’s all over, Mr. Landers,” replied Andy hap- 
pily. “I sold the last dozen buns nearly an hour 
ago. Gee! I never imagined there’d be such a 
call for them.” 

“Fine !” congratulated Landers. Then he 
added slowly, “Maybe we could sell another 
thousand if we had ’em. Eh, lad?” 

“I should say we could. But we can’t get 
them, if that’s what you’re thinking about, Mr. 
Landers. I just got through telephoning the 
Rudy Bakery at Glossburg, and they say it’s 
impossible for them to supply any more of the 
buns to-day.” 

“Suppose we try some other baker,” sug- 
gested Landers. He scratched his head thought- 
fully. “Sure, now, who can we call up? The 
divil! I wonder if old Balkman won’t help us 
out.” 

Andy stiffened. His face pictured astonish- 
ment and indignation. 

“Why, you wouldn’t go to Balkman, would 
155 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

you, Mr. Landers? — after the raw deal he pulled 
on us? He’s got the buns, all right, but if it 
were left up to me the old buns would stay on 
his counter and mold before I’d take them off 
his hands.” 

Landers rested a quieting hand on Andy’s 
shoulder. 

“Faith, lad, is it your idea to kick a man when 
you’ve got him down?” said he gently. 

“No-o,” returned Andy uncomfortably. He 
hadn’t looked at the matter in that light. 

“You’ve licked Balkman fair and square,” 
went on Landers slowly. “You’ve got him flat 
on his back, lad. And I’m of the opinion, and 
I believe you are, too, that it’ll be decent of us 
to give him a helpin’ hand. It’s better to be 
friends than enemies, Andy, and it pays us some- 
times to swallow our resentment in order to 
make people our friends. 

“Sure, now, Balkman isn’t such a divil of an 
ornery cuss. He’s a good craftsman, a good 
citizen, a good husband and a good father. 
When you’re sayin’ that about a man you’re 
sayin’ a lot. True, he hasn’t given us a square 
deal, but we all skid at times. He’s learned his 
lesson, and I don’t think he’ll make the same 
156 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


mistake twice. Besides, I’d rather buy my bak- 
ery goods here in Cressfield than from out of 
town. Patronize home industry first is my 
motto. What’s your opinion, Andy?” 

“I guess you’re right, sir,” was Andy’s 
thoughtful rejoinder. 


CHAPTER XV 


The scowl on Balkman’s face deepened when 
the screen door of his store opened and admitted 
Denny Landers. He was bitter indeed over the 
failure of his scheme to make a Saturday “spe- 
cial” of the Hot Cross Buns. Hundreds of the 
tempting sugar-crusted buns were piled in trays 
on the counter. A consuming rage surged in 
the man’s heart at the thought that the Irishman 
had dropped into the bakery to taunt him of his 
failure. 

Landers was too good a student of human na- 
ture not to notice this. And he spoke up 
quickly : 

“Good afternoon, John. It’s a divil of a hot 
day we’re havin’. Sure, I’m wonderin’ if you’ll 
do an old friend a favor?” 

Balkman regarded his visitor with suspicion. 

“What do you mean?” he growled. 

Landers bared his tousled hair and wiped the 
perspiration from his forehead. 

“Faith, I don’t want you to make it public, 
John, but it’s dissatisfied I am with the buns that 
158 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


came over to-day from Glossburg. They can’t 
hold a candle to the stuff I’ve been gettin’ from 
you. And if you can spare me about a thou- 
sand buns to finish out the day’s business — ” 

At this point there was a noisy interruption. 
With a joyful shriek flaxen-haired Mary Ellen 
came dashing through the sitting room door 
into the store and threw herself into Denny 
Landers’ welcoming arms. Her mother had 
been rocking her to sleep when the sound of 
Landers’ voice carried to the sitting room back 
of the store. Quick as a cat Mary Ellen had 
slipped down from her mother’s lap. 

“Oh, Untie Denny. I’s got sumfin’ for you,” 
she cried happily, clapping her chubby hands 
against Landers’ weathered cheeks. 

Denny’s face beamed. 

“Sure, now, it’s a divil of a lucky man your 
old Uncle Denny is to be gettin’ something from 
a grand little lady like you. What’s this fine 
thing you’ve got for me, Pussy Cat?” 

“Dess!” 

“I bet it’s a bear-hug,” guessed Denny with 
exaggerated thoughtfulness. 

“It’s a tiss,” shrieked Mary Ellen ; and she 
implanted her rare gift on the Irishman’s rugged 
159 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


cheek. Then she wriggled about in his arms, 
clamoring for a story. “Please, Untie Denny,” 
she coaxed, hugging him tight. “Tell Ma’y 
Ellen ’bout naughty Fiddle-Fig giant.” 

“What the divil ! — didn’t you get one of my 
Fiddle-Fig story books last week?” 

Mrs. Balkman had followed Mary Ellen into 
the store and now waddled forward. 

“I was intending to get her one, but I neg- 
lected it till they were all gone. Let me have 
her, Mr. Landers, and I’ll put her to sleep. 
Come, pet; it’s time for your nap. Say good-by 
to Uncle Denny.” 

“No! no!” cried Mary Ellen rebelliously. 
“Untie Denny’s goin’ to tell Ma’y Ellen ’bout 
Fiddle-Fig.” 

Landers gave Mrs. Balkman a broad wink. 

“Sure, no regular little lady wants to go to 
sleep without hearin’ about the naughty old 
giant,” said he, regarding Mary Ellen tenderly. 
With his rough hand he brushed the flaxen hair 
back from her forehead, now flushed with the 
heat of the sultry afternoon. Then he carried 
her into the sitting room and seated himself in 
the rocking chair that Mrs. Balkman had va- 
cated. Through the open window came the muf- 
160 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


fled sound of Main Street’s traffic. A gorgeous, 
yellow-black bumblebee came buzzing by and 
tarried momentarily on the window sill. Some- 
where in the leafiness outside a song bird caroled 
lazily. 

All these things tended to bring Mary Ellen 
very close to the borders of dreamland. Hud- 
dled in Denny Landers’ strong arms she listened 
contentedly to the Irishman’s version of Little 
Jib’s marvelous adventures. Slowly the little 
eyes closed. She yawned; then caught herself 
and resolutely pried her eyes open. But in spite 
of a fine determination the heavy eyelids came 
down again — slowly — slowly! She gave a sigh 
and her chubby arm rested at Landers’ hairy 
neck. 

“And old Fiddle^Fig, the danged reprobate, 
roared to the lady giant, ‘Did you open the seven 
iron gates?’ And the lady giant trembled till 
her false teeth rattled, and says, ‘Yes, master.’ 
‘ ’Tis well,’ says old Fiddle-Fig. And just then 
that old divil of a King Doodle Bird came a-hop- 
pin’ up from behind, and all the other Doodle 
Birds came a-hoppin’, and they skidded into the 
old giant purposely, intent on scratching his eyes 
out. He rushed for the protection of his ele- 
161 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

gant marble castle, but, being unable to see, he 
came to the top of the windin’ stairs by mistake 
and what did the old sinner do but skedaddle 
down the stairs, head over heels, bumpin' against 
the seven iron gates. 

“And down at the foot of the stairs was Little 
Jibs, with all the Valley people, and, Mither o’ 
Moses, in the wink of an eye they had the un- 
dertaker measurin' old Fiddle-Fig for a wooden 
overcoat. 

“And the happy people made Little Jibs — 
Little Jibs — made Little Jibs their King — made 
Little Jibs — •” 

As Denny Landers’ voice trailed off into space 
Ralkman came up falteringly from behind. The 
sullen look was gone from his face and in its 
place was an expression of chagrin and humility. 

“Denny, I — I — ” he began. Landers seemed 
not to hear. “Denny, I’ve acted like a plumb 
durn fool, and if you’ll — ” 

The man paused abruptly. Then with a grin 
he tiptoed out of the room. Denny’s eyes were 
closed no less tightly than were Mary Ellen’s. 

Hand in hand, the man and the child were 
romping in the dream kingdom of manly Little 
Jibs. 


162 


CHAPTER XVI 


When John Balkman delivered the buns that 
Denny Landers had ordered, Andy Blake, fol- 
lowing a custom of the business, went to Lan- 
ders’ desk to make an entry of the transaction 
in the accounts payable ledger. 

Failing to find the ledger in its accustomed 
place, he hurriedly looked through a pile of old 
magazines that littered the top of the merchant’s 
untidy desk. The ledger was not misplaced 
among the magazines; nor could Andy find it 
in any of the desk drawers. At length he 
glanced up at the baker and said : 

“You needn’t bother to wait till I make the 
entry, Mr. Balkman. I’ll make a memorandum 
of the transaction and Mr. Landers’ll post it in 
the ledger when he returns. No doubt he’ll 
know where to look for it.” 

“I suppose you’ll be wantin’ more buns next 
week,” said the baker. 

“Sure thing,” was Andy’s hearty reply. Then 
he added impulsively, “I guess I was pretty 
163 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


sassy when I was in your store the other day, 
Mr. Balkman. I’m sorry. If I could see things 
like Denny Landers does, I probably wouldn’t 
fly off the handle that way.” 

“Maybe I needed some sass,” the man admit- 
ted quietly, turning abruptly and leaving the 
store. 

Just before supper Andy again tried to locate 
the missing ledger. In moving some papers on 
the desk a letter dropped into his hands from 
one of the many badly cluttered pigeon-holes. 
The word “advertising” caught his eye. 

Conscious of a temptation to read the letter, 
Andy stiffened on the moment and reached for- 
ward to thrust the piece of paper into the pigeon- 
hole from whence it had fallen. But his arm 
became motionless as though turned to stone, 
when his quick eye detected the name “Andrew 
Blake” in the opening paragraph. A thrill ran 
down his spine. What could it mean? Why 
should he be mentioned in a letter to Landers 
from the Rollins & Hatch Company, one of Chi- 
cago’s foremost advertising agencies? 

In the minutes that followed Andy did a very 
natural thing — he read the letter, though fully 
conscious of his wrongdoing. As the words 
164 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

hurtled through his brain his heart became 
gripped with anger and distrust toward the man 
he had come to respect and admire above all 
other men. 

Andy first read the letter hurriedly, as though 
fearful of detection. Then he reread it slowly, 
almost doggedly, word for word: 

Mr. Dennis Landers, 

Cress field, III. 

Dear Mr. Landers : 

A very interesting story has reached us re- 
garding the advertising work of your young 
clerk, Andrew Blake. 

As you may know, a great many country 
newspapers come to us for checking purposes; 
and that is how we came to observe the Taffy 
Tart campaign in your local weekly. Always 
we are on the lookout for men who seemingly 
have original advertising ideas, and, recogniz- 
ing a fine merchandising appeal in the Taffy 
Tart campaign, we wrote to the proprietor of 
your newspaper to learn who created the unique 
advertising. 

Mr. York informed us that your clerk is wholly 
responsible for the campaign, and suggested that 
we get in touch with you. 

It would interest us to have your personal 
opinion of Mr. Blake’s ability. If your report 
165 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


is encouraging, and the young man is conscious 
of the advantages to be derived by a connection 
with our company, we will be pleased to offer 
him a beginner’s position here. 

Sincerely, 

Milo Rollins, General Manager, 
Rollins & Hatch Company. 

Five minutes later Andy burst in upon his 
mother, white lines showing about his sensitive 
mouth, anger burning in his eyes. The woman 
was dismayed at his emotion. At the sound of 
his running footsteps on the wooden sidewalk 
she had hastened to dry the tears that clouded 
her eyes. She had reasons for not wanting 
Andy to know that she had been crying. Now, 
as she looked into his stormy face and recog- 
nized the terrific unhappiness that gripped him, 
she quite forgot about her own troubles. 

“Why — Andy! What is wrong?” she cried, 
taking him by the shoulders. 

“Mother, Landers has cheated me. After all 
I’ve done for him, he’s cheated me — robbed me. 
Oh, and 1 believed in him ! I thought he 
was manly and on the square. But he isn’t, 
Mother ” 

“Stop!” commanded Mrs. Blake with an in- 
166 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

tensity that bordered on roughness. “Andy, 
you surely do not know what you are saying. 
There isn’t a dishonest hair in Denny Landers’ 
head. How can you think such a thing? Oh, 
Andy ! — I’m ashamed of you ! Indeed, Mr. Lan- 
ders is a true friend ” 

“But he isn’t, Mother,” cried Andy. Quickly 
he drew the now crumpled letter from his coat 
pocket. His hands trembled as he smoothed the 
letter and handed it to his mother. “I tell you 
he has cheated me. He has stolen from me an 
opportunity I have been dreaming of and long- 
ing for for months. See, Mother! I found this 
letter in his desk. It is two weeks old. The 
Rollins & Hatch Company of Chicago saw my 
Taffy Tart campaign in the Gazette. The gen- 
eral manager of the company wrote to Mr. Lan- 
ders for a recommendation as to my ability. He 
offered to hire me. Just think! — a position in 
one of the biggest advertising agencies in the 
country! And Landers never told me a word 
about it. The opportunity is gone ! He cheated 
me, Mother. He doesn’t want me to quit him 
because I’m making money for him. He wants 
to hold me down — keep me in this jerk-water 
town. Oh, Mother! I feel just like — like — ” 

167 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


A wail came from Mrs. Blake that stabbed 
Andy’s tender heart and drove away the tirade 
that flamed to his lips. 

“Why, Mother — you’re white as — chalk — ” he 
gasped, his strong young arms instantly going 
about her waist. “Are you ill, Mother?” 

“It isn’t — the kind of an illness — you think, 
Andy,” the woman faltered. She struggled to 
regain control of herself. The color slowly re- 
turned to her face. “I’m all right now,” she 
added simply. 

“You scared me, Mother,” cried Andy, con- 
cern showing in his anxious eyes. 

“I’m a silly woman, Andy. I can see it now. 
But I suppose God intended that all mothers 
should be that way. You are all I have, Andy. 
Oh, I love you so much! I couldn’t bear to 
give you up. 

“Andy, Mr. Landers told me of the — letter 
the day he received it. You say he cheated you. 
No, Andy ! If any one tried to cheat you it was 
I. My heart failed me at the thought of your 
going to the city. I told Mr. Landers I wanted 
time to think it over — to decide what was best. 
But it wasn’t wholly that — I was selfish — I 

didn’t want you to go away and leave me ” 

168 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“Mother!” gasped Andy, his voice vibrating 
with amazed emotion. 

"It's over now, Andy. I can see where I was 
wrong. I mustn’t stand in the way of your ad- 
vancement. It is right that you should go to 
the city, and, now that the battle is over, I want 
you to go. It isn’t too late to get the position 
for you. I’ll see Mr. Landers and have him 
write to-morrow. I, too, will write and explain 
the delay to Mr. Rollins.” 

“Mother — I’m dazed,” cried Andy, his hand 
pressing against his throbbing forehead. 

Mrs. Blake laughed softly as she playfully 
tweaked the boy’s nose. 

“What you need is a good roll on the grass,” 
she advised. “Don’t you remember, Andy? 
when you were a little fellow and a great hap- 
piness came into your life you would roll on 
the lawn and kick up your heels and shout. 
Dear me, don’t look so surprised and so — so 
superior! You’re awfully big, I know, and al- 
most a man; but to-night, Andy, we’ll pretend 
you’re a boy. Run into the yard. Do as I tell 
you this very minute or I’ll — I’ll spank you! 
When supper is ready I’ll call you.” 

A great love shone in Andy’s face. 

169 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Mother, you’re — you’re just wonderful!” he 
cried. Then he dashed from the kitchen, the 
screen door closing after him with a bang. 
There were tears — big, happy tears — in his eyes, 
and he sought to hide them. 


CHAPTER XVII 


To Andy, unaccustomed to the intense activ- 
ity of a large city, it was overwhelming — the 
grinding roar and nerve-wracking clang of the 
surface cars, the thunderous rumble of the “ele- 
vated,” the penetrating screech of the traffic offi- 
cer’s whistle and the shrill cries of the hardened 
newsboys. Bewildered by these distracting sur- 
roundings, the boy permitted himself to be car- 
ried along by the stream of humanity that twice 
daily reaches flood height in the hours that mark 
the opening and the closing of the industrial 
door in Chicago’s great “loop” district. 

Still a part of the seemingly endless, restless 
and wholly indifferent throng, Andy presently 
found himself in the lobby of a giant office 
building. Here he consulted the directory and 
learned that the advertising corporation of 
Rollins & Hatch was located on the ninth 
floor. His feeling of uncertainty was intensi- 
fied by the knowledge that he had elected him- 
171 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


self to become a part of this dynamic world 
without knowing a great deal about it. 

Passing into one of the elevators, he was car- 
ried to the ninth floor. When he stepped into 
the spacious waiting room of the Rollins Si 
Hatch suite, a black-haired girl at the switch- 
board gave him a friendly inquiring glance. 

“My name is Andrew Blake,” he stated with 
some uncertainty. “I am here to see Mr. Rol- 
lins by appointment.” 

“Mr. Rollins isn’t down yet,” the girl informed 
him. “Suppose you take a seat, Mr. Blake. I 
will let you know when Mr. Rollins comes in.” 

Andy thanked her. Gingerly seating himself, 
he struggled to collect his scattered thoughts. 
There was something in the atmosphere of the 
busy place that suggested power, latitude, domi- 
nance. It seemed to him as though he were 
standing on the threshold of Opportunity. 
Through glass partitions he could see rows of 
small, private offices with the names of the 
occupants lettered on the gray glass doors. 
Keen-eyed, neat-appearing young men were 
bending over desks; some, with shirt sleeves 
rolled to the elbows, were operating typewriters. 
Every one seemed busy — and happy. Truly, 
172 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

thought Andy, here was the birthplace of Big 
Business. Here, on the anvil of concentrated 
brain-power, was forged the merchandising 
vehicle that enabled men to capitalize on inven- 
tion. He thrilled with happiness in the knowl- 
edge that he was about to become a part of this 
dynamic organization. 

Then his optimism faded. The feeling of 
uncertainty and uneasiness that had gripped 
him while in the street returned with added 
force. Probably this was caused more than any- 
thing else by the framed advertisements that 
looked down upon him from the tinted walls of 
the waiting room. These selling appeals, subtly 
bespeaking the substance of Rollins & Hatch's 
clientele, were examples of the very best in 
magazine advertising. Andy silently compared 
this work with the advertising he had created 
for Denny Landers, and suddenly his own 
efforts, hitherto a source of pride, seemed small 
and lowly. The fear gripped him that possibly, 
after all, there would be no place for him in this 
organization of professionals. 

A fat boy lumbered into the room with a hand- 
ful of engravings. He favored the telephone 
girl with a wink and inquired about certain 
173 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


order copies. Following him into an adjoining 
room, she helped him locate the necessary papers 
in a metal filing cabinet. Outside the door of 
the waiting room the elevator disgorged more 
passengers. Two men, talking earnestly, passed 
through the room. The telephone girl came to 
the door and inquired: 

“Wasn’t that Mr. Rollins who just came in?” 

“I don’t know him by sight,” Andy confessed. 
The girl said, “O-o-o,” and crossing to the 
switchboard was about to plug in under a cer- 
tain number when a trim, neatly dressed and 
exceedingly businesslike woman came into the 
room and extended her hand to Andy. 

“I believe you are Mr. Andrew Blake,” she 
said with a kindly smile. “I am Mr. Rollins’ 
secretary — Miss Manning. He would like to 
have you come into his office.” 

Andy followed her into a large sunlit room 
through the open windows of which came dully 
the rumble of the surface cars in the canonlike 
streets below. Gorgeous red geraniums and 
fuchsias nodded in green flower boxes on the 
window ledges; and on the big desk in the center 
of the room a single red rose stood proudly erect 
in a cut-glass vase. These flowers seemed to 
174 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

blend pleasantly with the rose-tinted walls, the 
soft rug and the rich mahogany office furniture. 
At one side a bank of ferns softened the yawning 
mouth of a fireplace. 

A tall, wiry, gray -haired man in a light office 
jacket came forward slowly with outstretched 
hand. He appeared at first glance to be very 
reserved and thoughtful ; yet there was a friend- 
liness, a humanness, about him that appealed to 
Andy on the instant. The man’s dark eyes, from 
beneath heavy, overhanging eyebrows, never 
wavered in their glance and seemed to pierce the 
young visitor through and through. 

“I am glad to welcome you into our organiza- 
tion, Mr. Blake,” he said in a low, musical, pene- 
trating voice. 

"I’m glad to be here, sir,” Andy returned, 
putting w^armth into his handclasp. 

"When did you arrive in the city?” 

"Last night.” 

"Get located?” 

"I’m staying at the LaSalle Hotel.” 

"I will have Mr. Dingley assist you in getting 
a room in some good lodging house on the north 
side. It will be much cheaper — and better. You 
are to work with Mr. Dingley. He is a young 
175 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


man like yourself. You will like him, I am sure. 
Now, suppose you have a seat and tell me some- 
thing, in your own way, about your advertising 
work and about your ambitions.” 

At this kindly invitation, Andy proceeded to 
give an account of the newspaper campaigns he 
had prepared for Denny Landers; also he men- 
tioned the advertising books he was studying, 
and struggled to put into words the great long- 
ing that filled his heart to make for himself a 
mark of importance in the advertising world. 
Throughout the recital Mr. Rollins nodded 
encouragingly. 

“This is all very interesting, especially the 
Taffy Tart story,” the man commented when 
Andy had finished. “As you know, you first 
came to our attention through your Taffy Tart 
campaign. That was rather cleverly worked 
out. In fact, one of our clients, the Imperial 
Candy Company, is planning to do something 
along similar lines. 

“I believe you are at a point in your career 
where you need the professional training you 
will get here; and we, of course, need you. I 
may say, as a matter of information, that we 
are one of the oldest and soundest advertising 
176 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


service corporations in the middle west. Natu- 
rally we are rather jealous of this reputation, 
and we all work together to maintain in full the 
prestige we have built up. 

“In joining forces with us, I want you to feel 
that we are interested in your development and 
want to help you in every way we can. It is 
obvious that you have many things to learn 
about our business before you will become a crea- 
tive part of the organization. We expect that. 

“At the start you will be paid thirty dollars 
a week. Your salary will be advanced as rapidly 
as you develop. Frankly, I hope you will not 
be a thirty-dollar-a-week man very long. We 
need fifty-dollar and one-hundred-dollar-a-week 
men. Now I will have Mr. Dingley come in, so 
that you may become acquainted with him.” 

Miss Manning seemingly had anticipated this 
moment, because almost on the instant that Mr. 
Rollins finished speaking she was followed into 
the room by a fair, pleasant-faced, wide-awake 
young man who regarded Andy with interested 
blue eyes. 

“Mr. Dingley, this is the young man I told 
you about yesterday — Mr. Andrew Blake. He 
will work with you on the Ayer and Imperial ac- 
177 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


counts. I have every reason to believe that he 
will prove of great assistance to you when he 
becomes familiar with our ways of doing things. 
He is from out of the city, and has not a perma- 
nent rooming place. You may want to help him 
get located.” 

An hour later Andy proudly found himself 
stationed at a neat desk in a small office with 
Dingley. The latter had seen to it that the new 
desk was fully equipped with paper, pencils and 
clips. 

“Some time this morning we’ll step around a 
bit so that you can become acquainted with the 
boys,” Dingley said in a friendly way that was 
characteristic with him. “We’re a decent gang, 
as a whole. I imagine you feel a little bit lost 
right now. I did when I came here two years 
ago. But after a few days that’ll wear off and 
you’ll be one of the family. Here comes Evans, 
our art director. He’s a card. On first acquaint- 
ance you’ll think he’s a crab; but, take it from 
me, if he likes you he’ll pry a city block loose to 
help you. Hey, Evans, put on the brakes ! Meet 
Mr. Blake. New man. Going to help me on the 
Ayer account.” 

The artist gave Andy but scant attention. His 
178 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


small bright eyes carried a preoccupied look. 
A fringe of wiry red hair accentuated his bald- 
ness. 

“You have my sympathy,” he said indiffer- 
ently. “I always feel it’s my unlucky day when 
I have to do anything for that man Ayer. He 
has no idea of the value or latitude of art. All 
he thinks of is details. If I leave a bolt or 
screw off one of his machines — good night!” 

Dingley shifted about uneasily. 

“Aw, Evans, don’t throw a scare into Blake 
the first thing,” he joked. 

“Glad to meet you,” said the artist, limply 
shaking hands with Andy as an afterthought 
and passing on, still visibly buried in gloomy 
meditation. 

“Huh !” growled Dingley. “He’s nice and 
friendly this morning — just like a hungry bear 
with a sore head. Well, don’t let him get your 
goat, Blake. Ayer’s a queer old codger — lives 
awfully close to his precious machines and all 
that — but one can get along with him well 
enough by making allowances.” 

“In what way will I come in contact with 
him?” inquired Andy a trifle uncertainly. 

“In an advertising agency such as this, where 
179 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


advertising is placed for a number of clients, 
each account is handled by a certain man or 
team. You will be my junior and help me plan 
and prepare the Ayer Planing Machine Com- 
pany and the Imperial Candy Company ad- 
vertising. At the start Pm going to have 
you give all your time to the Ayer proposi- 
tion. Frankly, it’s been a little bit neglected of 
late. The Imperial concern is going in for 
national advertising this fall, using a number 
of big national magazines, with a lot of news- 
paper tie-up stuff. It will be up to you to study 
the Ayer line and the channels of distribution 
— in fact, work with Ayer in every way you can 
in order that he may get the feeling that his 
account is being given preferred attention. We 
handle his trade paper copy — full page ads 
monthly in all the leading furniture and plan- 
ing-mill papers. He handles the direct-by-mail 
work himself — what little he does. All your 
copy will have to bear his O.K., so the better 
you stand in with him the easier it will be for 
you. 

“The account has never been a paying one, 
but we have had hopes that Ayer would eventu- 
ally see the light and let us do some real adver- 
180 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

tising for him. He’s a personal friend of Mr. 
Rollins, and that may be one reason why we 
never have pushed the matter. Here is a port- 
folio of the advertising we have placed for Ayer 
during the past three years. Better spend a 
few hours studying it. Not that you’ll want to 
duplicate the stuff, but it’ll give you an idea of 
his line.” 

“Don’t you think it would be a good plan for 
me to see the real machinery?” said Andy after 
a moment, slowly turning the pages of the port- 
folio. The pictured machines seemed very vague 
and strange to him. 

“Sure,” agreed Dingley. “We’ll take a run 
out to the factory to-morrow. But it’s a dirty 
place and you won’t want to stay there any 
longer than you can help. Take it from me you 
won’t.” 

Andy followed Dingley’s suggestion and spent 
the balance of the morning reading and digesting 
— rather, trying to digest — the advertisements 
featuring Ayer fast-feed matchers, molders, sur- 
facers and glue jointers. At times his thoughts 
wandered, so new and distracting were his sur- 
roundings. With fine determination to concen- 
trate on the task at hand, he would start in 
181 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


reading an interesting account of the production 
capacity of a double surfacer and end by fol- 
lowing with his eye and thoughts the movements 
of people near him. 

And there were moments when something 
seemed to prick him inside and cause his 
thoughts to return longingly to Cressfield. Did 
Bud and Chuck miss him? And Denny Lan- 
ders? He thought of his mother. A clock on 
the wall without the door of the little office 
pointed to eleven-thirty. He could picture his 
mother in her calico apron fussing over the 
kitchen stove, browning the potatoes as he liked 
them browned. He would miss those good pota- 
toes — those good meals. He would miss — 

“Get your lid, Blake,” Dingley called from 
the door. “We’ll skip out to some cafeteria 
ahead of the' jam and grab a bite to eat.” 

After lunch, Andy followed Dingley on board 
a northbound surface car. 

“We’ll take a run out to Forest Street,” Ding- 
ley said. “I know one grand little old lady out 
there who runs a rooming house. If you can 
get a room with her you’ll be in luck. She 
doesn’t jaw about a little noise and mrnss like 
182 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


some old hens Eve roomed with. She’s a good 
scout.” 

At Forest Street they left the car and walked 
half a block. Running up the wide stone steps 
of a large and rather shabby-appearing house, 
Dingley pressed the call bell button. 

“Hello, Mother West,” he said noisily, when 
a kind-faced little old lady opened the door and 
glanced out inquiringly. It seemed to Andy that 
she could not weigh more than one hundred 
pounds. The flush of youth had departed from 
her cheeks, but in her eyes was the deep, warm 
glow that bespoke a friendly, kindly heart. 

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Ding !” she said in some- 
what of a flurry. “Dear me! I haven’t seen 
you for months. I’d just about made up my 
mind that you had a new girl and had forgotten 
me,” this last with a playful, accusing gesture 
of her small, wrinkled hand. 

“Not so you’d notice it,” assured Dingley 
quickly. “This is Mr. Blake, Mother West.” 

The little old lady held out her hand to Andy 
in a friendly way. 

“You look like a nice boy,” she said simply, 
smiling into his face. “But then, all Mr. Ding’s 
friends are nice.” 


183 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“Tut, tut, Mother ! How do you get that way? 
Mr. Blake’s from out of town — connected with 
the agency. I want you to fix him up with a 
room. Now don’t say you can’t. The Boss 
wants to get him located in a nice place where 
there’ll be some one to look after him and see 
that he doesn’t get to romping around with 
chorus girls and things like that.” 

“You silly boy,” said Mrs. West, shaking with 
laughter. Then she composed herself and turned 
to Andy. “I have one room, Mr. Blake, that 
you may see, if you wish. It’s rather small, but 
it’s close to the bath and in a quiet part of the 
house.” 

“I’m not very big,” grinned Andy. 

“I imagine it’s just the kind of a room for a 
boy,” she said, leading the way up two flights 
of stairs to a room on the third floor. It was 
indeed small, but there was a coziness and home- 
liness about it that appealed to Andy and he 
came to terms on the spot. He explained that 
he would be back that night with his luggage 
and she gave him a key to the front door. Then 
he paid his first week’s rent in advance and fol- 
lowed Dingley back to the car line. 

As the afternoon carried through and drew 
184 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


to a close, Andy was happy in the knowledge 
that he had less of that- feeling of uneasiness 
that had distracted him before lunch. He be- 
came conscious of an atmosphere of friendliness 
throughout the organization. 

He saw nothing more of Mr. Rollins that day. 
Dingley was in and out of the little office, occa- 
sionally bringing some member of the organiza- 
tion in for Andy to meet. In that way Andy 
became acquainted with a number of young men 
in the office. One of them, a studious-appearing 
boy, wearing big shell-rimmed glasses, invited 
him to the Y.M.C.A. the coming Saturday even- 
ing to witness a basket-ball game. 

“Sure you can find Mother West’s all right?” 
Dingley inquired as he prepared to leave the 
office shortly after five o’clock. 

“Yes, indeed,” Andy assured him. 

“Well, I’ll trot along then. Be good, and 
don’t do anything to-night I wouldn’t. See you 
in the morning.” 

“Good night,” responded Andy feelingly. He 
liked Dingley! 

It was natural for Andy to get his supper at 
the same restaurant where Dingley and he had 
lunched that noon. And he managed quite well 
185 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 
alone, though he felt out of place in the hungry, 
indifferent throng. He checked out at the hotel, 
and boarding a northbound car got off at Forest 
Street. Mrs. West was not in sight when he 
rather clumsily let himself in. As he passed up 
the stairs he heard some one whistling merrily 
in one of the rooms; from another room came 
the sound of voices, followed by a burst of laugh- 
ter. Plainly, thought Andy, these people, room- 
ers like himself, had found happiness and con- 
tentment in the city. He then and there deter- 
mined that he, too, would make the city pay him 
a dividend in companionship and happiness. 
He would make himself a part of the city, as 
much a part of it as these other roomers. 

That night he wrote to his mother a letter 
that radiated supreme optimism. He pictured 
Mr. Rollins, reserved and deep, yet withal kindly 
and human. He drew a word picture of the 
likable, talkative Dingley, of the moody, tal- 
ented Evans and the efficient Miss Manning. 
Even Mother West — as Andy had determined 
to call her — came in for lengthy mention. He 
described his little room — dwelling on the quaint 
picture near the foot of the bed. This showed 
a sleepy village street with grimy -faced urchins 
186 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


in the foreground playing with a shepherd dog. 
Andy was not to know that the kind-hearted 
Mrs. West had hunted up this picture that very 
afternoon, thinking that it would please him, 
provide a touch of “home” to his little room, and 
possibly tide him over those unhappy moments 
when homesickness touched at his heart. 

It was indeed a long letter that Andy wrote. 
When it was completed he undressed, snapped 
out the light, and crawled into bed. For a long 
time he lay there thinking of his new work and 
of the possible outcome of his associations with 
Mr. Ayer He recalled vividly the remark of 
the artist. And again he experienced a feeling 
of uneasiness. He stifled this by saying with 
determination : 

“I’ve simply got to make the man like me. 
And I guess I can do it, if I take a sincere inter- 
est in his planers and try to help him in every 
way I can.” This determination brought a 
quieting influence and he shortly dropped off 
to sleep. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


Andy was uncertain as to the length of time 
it would take him to get down on the street car, 
and as a result of his desire to be on time, was 
one of the first ones at the office the following 
morning. He observed the fat office boy in the 
general office sorting the mail, and proceeded 
to make himself acquainted. 

“My name’s Andy Blake,” he said, holding out 
his hand. 

“Fm Tub,” grinned the boy. “When Fm old 
enough to vote Fll be George Henderson. Goin’ 
to work here?” 

“Yep. Can I help you sort the mail? Fd 
like to know how to do it.” 

“Sure — jump in,” invited Tub, indicating a 
chair with a nod of his round head. 

In the busy minutes that followed Tub waxed 
friendly and confidential. Andy learned the 
method employed in distributing the mail — also 
learned that Tub was a member of a boys’ club. 
Tub also admitted that he was an amateur 
188 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


editor. It seemed that he guided the uncertain 
destinies of an amateur paper, the mouthpiece 
of his “tribe,” getting it out on the office dupli- 
cating machine. 

“I do it nights,” he explained. 

“I’ll stay and help you the next time you get 
it out,” Andy offered. 

“I wish you’d help me write it,” said Tub, hie 
mind seemingly gripped with troublesome 
thoughts. “Gee! It’s hard to think up news 
and write about it. The fellows don’t help much 
except to make fun of my spelling.” Then he 
seemed possessed of a new and happier thought. 
“How’d you like to meet the gang some night?” 

“I’d be tickled silly,” said Andy earnestly. 

“I’ll let you know when we have our next 
meeting,” said Tub happily. 

The other members of the organization were 
now pouring into the office. Dingley signaled 
to Andy. 

“Say, Blake, I think we better run out to the 
Ayer plant this morning. You’ve got to meet 
Ayer sooner or later, so we might as well have it 
over with. I can spare the time this morning 
better than later in the week. How does the 
idea strike you?” 


189 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“I'm ready whenever you say,” returned Andy. 

Dingley informed the telephone girl of his in- 
tended destination, then made a run for the 
elevator. That was one of the things about 
Dingley that fascinated Andy; he appeared al- 
ways to be on the jump, always “on his toes.” 
Nothing was ever done in a leisurely way. 

“I'm going to pattern after him,” was Andy's 
determination. 

On the way to the Ayer plant Andy was watch- 
ful of the car changes, realizing that he wouldn't 
always have Dingley for a guide. The factory, 
rather low and gloomy in outward appearances, 
yet possessing a pleasing hum of industry, was 
located on the extreme south side. As they 
passed into the dingy office, Andy unconsciously 
contrasted it with the cheerful, sunny offices of 
Rollins & Hatch. He knew little about such 
things, but the thought came to him on the in- 
stant that people would be likely to do better 
w r ork under surroundings that were cheerful and 
inspirational. And there came to him a vague 
uneasiness. Were these gloomy, dingy sur- 
roundings characteristic of the man he was to 
serve in an advertising way? 

A girl in charge of the switchboard was sort- 
190 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

in g time cards between calls. When she saw 
Dingley her face brightened until her black eyes 
fairly snapped. 

“Hello, Rosie!” he greeted in his friendly, 
talkative way. “I suppose the Boss is in his 
office?” 

“He’s in Detroit,” replied Rosie. 

“This is my assistant, Mr. Andrew Blake,” 
Dingley introduced. “I understand, Rosie, he 
has a wife and six small children back in his 
home burg ; so don’t try to vamp him and break 
up a happy home. If you do that, I’ll be jealous. 
We came out to see Mr. Ayer and size up the 
line. I suppose it will be all right for me to 
show Mr. Blake around.” 

“Sure, make yourself homely,” giggled Rosie. 
She pressed a button, causing a gate in the corral 
to unlatch, admitting Dingley and Andy to the 
general office room. Dingley nodded in a 
friendly way to several typists and passed into 
a small room which proved to be the advertising 
department. 

On their entrance into the room, a tall, yellow- 
haired girl came forward inquiringly. 

“Miss Hanson, this is Mr. Blake, the man who 
will be in direct charge of your magazine adver- 
191 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


tising. Suppose you show him what you are 
doing in connection with your direct-by-mail 
stuff. He may have some suggestions to offer 
later, though of course his work will be largely 
on the trade-paper end.” 

The girl showed Andy the kind of circulars 
that were being mailed intermittently into the 
field and explained the plan of distribution by 
classes of business. She pointed out the ma- 
chine for addressing the advertising, showing 
how the address stencils were divided into 
groups, thereby enabling the company to send 
a certain circular to a certain branch of the 
woodworking industry. 

“You understand, I believe, that we build all 
kinds of planing machinery — surfacers, mold- 
ers, matchers and glue jointers. Where we 
have a folder describing a surfacer used only on 
fine work in the furniture field, naturally we will 
want to send this only to prospects in that par- 
ticular field. Our fast-feed matchers, on the 
other hand, are used principally in planing mills, 
so a matcher circular would not go to furniture 
factory prospects. You can see from this why 
it is desirable for us to have our mailing list 
divided vocationally.” 


192 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“Is it the idea of the advertising to produce 
inquiries for the salesmen to work on?” Andy 
inquired, after a brief study of the pieces placed 
before him. 

“Yes, but we don’t get very many. The sales- 
men are always complaining because we don’t 
send them more live leads. Here is one of the 
return cards we inclose with each folder.” 

“Who gets up your folders?” was Andy’s next 
question. 

“Mr. Ayer, mostly. Isn’t that right, Mr. 
Dingley?” 

“Yes; Ayer’s the whole shebang around here 
— helps design the machines — superintends the 
factory — goes on the road selling — and insists 
that he above all others is best qualified to write 
a description of his planers. Occasionally we 
get a crack at a purely descriptive piece — like 
these folders — but he doesn’t seem enthusiastic 
about our idea of things. He says we’re super- 
ficial — that we don’t know enough about ma- 
chinery to write about it intelligently.” 

“But if I studied the line, and learned how 
the machines are built and what they will do, 
don’t you suppose he’d let me handle this work?” 
inquired Andy eagerly. 

193 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Dingley laughed. 

“You're too ambitious. Take my advice and 
keep your hands off this stuff. Technically, our 
connection with the Ayer Company is to place 
the trade-paper advertising. We can save our- 
selves a lot of grief by letting Ayer handle, the 
direct mail in the way he wants to.” 

“But couldn’t we help him get out better 
direct-by-mail advertising — something that will 
carry to the prospect an interest-compelling ap- 
peal and be more than a mere review of the mer- 
its or a description of the parts of his machines? 
I should think we would want to do that.” 

Dingley withheld his reply until they were in 
the court between the office and factory. Half- 
way across the court he paused beside a pile of 
foundry flasks and regarded Andy rather wryly. 

“I guess you don’t know a great deal about 
the advertising agency game,” he said bluntly. 

“I’ve got everything to learn,” Andy confessed 
uncomfortably. 

“Then you might as well learn now, as later, 
that there’s a limit to the amount of time that 
an agency can afford to give an account like this 
— and Rollins & Hatch are no exception. The 
publishers of the different magazines in which 
194 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


we place the advertising of our clients allow an 
agency discount, usually fifteen per cent of the 
regular page or column rates. The advertiser 
himself cannot obtain the discount — only ac- 
credited advertising agencies placing the adver- 
tising can secure it. In the event that the ad- 
vertiser places his own advertising he pays the 
full rates. If we place it for him he pays us 
the full rates and we become entitled to the 
agency discount. That is the way an agency de- 
rives its resources. It pays Mr. Advertiser to 
have an agency place his advertising, as he gets 
a definite creative service without it seemingly 
costing him anything. 

“When an advertiser uses space in the big 
national publications the agency discount on 
that account runs into thousands of dollars 
yearly, because some magazines charge five and 
six thousand dollars for a single one-page inser- 
tion. That is what we term a ‘fat’ account. On 
such accounts the agency is justified in putting 
in a lot of time. In Ayer’s case, the total maga- 
zine investment is less than fifteen thousand dol- 
lars. You can see that fifteen per cent of this 
is no fortune. Therefore we cannot afford to 
195 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

put in any more time on the account than is 
necessary. 

“Now, don’t misunderstand me, Blake. We 
don’t side-step an opportunity to help a client 
whose account isn’t profitable; but if we must 
favor one of two clients with our time, and one 
is a Tat’ account and the other the reverse, you 
can see what happens.” 

“If I could have my wish, do you know what 
it would be?” cried Andy impulsively, when 
Dingley finished. 

“Unburden yourself,” his companion encour- 
aged. 

“I would wish that I could make this account 
so profitable that we would be justified in giving 
it a lot of time and attention, thereby enabling 
us to make the name Ayer the biggest thing in 
the woodworking field. I would wish, too, 
that — ” 

“Well, I wish I didn’t have to mope around in 
this dirty old factory,” cut in Dingley, seem- 
ingly impatient with Andy’s view of things. 

The latter, as he followed his guide into the 
factory, was momentarily depressed. But this 
feeling was soon lost in the face of a great in- 
terest in his surroundings. The rumble of a 
196 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


heavy crane and the grinding noise of huge 
metal planers on the “cut” stroke smote his ears. 
The life of the factory — its industry and purpose 
— thrilled him. He was fascinated by the rows 
of lathes and screw machines, turning out the 
multitude of parts necessary in the construction 
of Ayer planers. Dingley guided him to the test 
floor, where low, compact, powerful-looking 
planers — blue-bloods in the woodworking world 
— were turning out finely finished flooring and 
molding of intricate design at rates of speed 
so great that the lumber seemed literally to 
shoot through the machine. Andy would have 
tarried here for hours, but Dingley had no such 
intention. His progress through the factory 
had been marked by a desire to have the un- 
pleasant task over with as soon as possible. 
When he and Andy were again in the open air 
the latter’s mind was a hodgepodge. 

“Well, I’m thankful that’s over with,” was 
Dingley’s relieved remark, as he dusted from his 
clothing the fine chips that had filled the air in 
the testing department. “My idea of nothing 
would be to work in a place like that.” 

“I believe I’d like it,” Andy confessed. 

Dingley stared at him; then growled, “Good 
197 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

night !” as he started across the court to the of- 
fice. 

“Would it be all right if I remained here a 
little longer, so as to make some detailed notes ?” 
Andy inquired anxiously. “What I saw was 
rather confusing. I could learn a lot of valu- 
able things if I could take my own time going 
through the factory.” 

“That’s up to you,” returned Dingley indif- 
ferently. “Stick around here for several days 
if you wish. I imagine that would please Mr. 
Rollins ; he told me one time I ought to get closer 
to Ayer’s proposition. Shucks! It isn’t neces- 
sary to feel a piece of machinery all over and 
be able to recite the names of all its cogs and 
joints in order to advertise it intelligently.” 

Left alone, Andy went back into the factory 
— and there was a vague, undefinable happiness 
in his heart. He became acquainted with the 
foremen, and showed such a keen interest in the 
work and such an evident desire to learn that 
shortly the department heads were explaining 
intricate manufacturing processes to him in de- 
tail. It was his boyish eagerness that appealed 
to these seasoned men. He even found himself 
gripping the hands of grimy-faced apprentices, 
198 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


as he progressed in his great adventure of mak- 
ing friends. And as he passed on, these boys 
said things to one another that were highly in 
his favor, and there was in their hearts the 
earnest hope that he would come their way 
again. 

But it was in the assembling and testing de- 
partments that Andy spent the most of his time. 
He learned that some of the assemblers, grizzled, 
veterans that they were, and proud of their 
period of service, had been employed by the com- 
pany for more than twenty years. They took 
a jealous interest in their work, and no ma- 
chined part passed through their hands and en- 
tered into the construction of the planers that 
did not measure up to their stringent ideas of 
accuracy. Here, thought Andy, was copy mate- 
rial a-plenty. 

When the day drew to a close he had a note- 
book full of data and a head chock full of ideas 
Also he had a pair of very dirty hands. It 
never occurred to him to seek a place in the 
office to remove this grime. Somehow he was 
happy in feeling himself a part of this crowd of 
sweating, hard-working, conscientious mechan- 
ics. He followed them into the factory wash- 
199 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


room where they crowded each other good- 
naturedly. Then he went with them from the fac- 
tory and boarded a down-town car. One of the 
workmen saved a seat for him and all the way 
to the transfer point Andy and the man talked 
of the factory, of its people, and of Ayer planers. 
When Andy said good night to the man one 
would have fancied, from the feeling in his voice, 
that he was parting with a lifelong friend. 

That night Andy sat until after midnight, 
thinking, planning, reviewing his notes. Again 
he read the portfolio of Ayer advertisements 
that Dingley had permitted him to take home. 
Somehow the advertising, though carefully 
worded and attractive, failed to please him. It 
lacked that “human” quality that one so in- 
tensely human as Andy would expect and long 
for. He selected one of the most forceful ad- 
vertisements, illustrated at the top with a cut 
of an Ayer fast-feed matcher, and read it care- 
fully: 

LARGE PRODUCTION 

Ayer Matchers set the present 
standard of production at 250 feet per 
minute and upwards ; and the New 99 
with Automatic Feeder made that 
200 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


standard easy to attain and maintain. 
Not only is production at the maxi- 
mum in actual running time; but in 
removing causes for delays and shut- 
downs more time is given to actual 
production than with matchers less 
carefully designed and built. 

High Quality of Product 

The New 99 will save your natural 
grades. High-grade stock run through 
this matcher remains high grade. 
Lower grades are not degraded. 
Round cutterheads equipped with 
thin, high-speed-steel knives, ground 
keen in the head , and “jointed” to a 
perfect cutting circle, operate with 
the scraping cut that assures perfect 
work. 


Low Upkeep Cost 

Every feature of the New 99 is de- 
signed and built not only to assist in 
producing high quality lumber, but to 
endure the heavy strain of hard work 
for a long period of years. 


Our Engineers are at your service 
— to help you to practical ways of 
201 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


raising the quality of your product 
and reducing your operating expenses. 

We invite your investigation of the 
Ayer line — quality planers for every 
purpose. 

THE AYER PLANING 
MACHINE COMPANY, 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

When Andy finished reading the advertise- 
ment he sat motionless for several moments, 
buried in deep thought. An idea was shaping 
itself in his mind and he struggled to give it 
practical dress. Of a sudden he reached for his 
pencil, and on a sheet of paper roughly sketched 
a man, with a planing mill in the background. 
The man held a piece of flooring in his hands 
and appeared to be saying : 

“No, It Isn’t Sanded — Just Ayer- 
Planed” 

“It sure looks like sanded work, 
doesn’t it? A smooth, almost polished, 
surface, no sign of knife-marks, no 
‘fuzz’ or chipped-out knots. 

“To an old planing-mill man like 
me, used to comparatively slow feeds 
and work of average and sometimes 
202 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


doubtful quality, it was something of 
a shock to learn, from the Ayer rep- 
resentative, that finely finished floor- 
ing like this could be produced con- 
sistently, hour after hour, at 200 feet 
and upwards per minute. 

“But I learned on investigation that 
this was indeed true — that the Ayer 
New 99 was establishing records in 
other mills, building up the quality of 
the manufactured product and cutting 
down the production costs. So we put 
one of the matchers to work in our 
mill. Now we have four. 

“Of course it is the round cutter- 
heads, equipped with thin, high-speed- 
steel knives, ground keen in the head , 
and ‘jointed’ in a few moments to a 
perfect cutting circle, that enables the 
Ayer New 99 to perform so perfectly 
at fast feeds. We like the round cut- 
terhead idea. Our natural grades are 
saved, as the heads operate with a 
scraping cut. Our operators say the 
round cutterheads are easy to work 
with.” 


Practical planing-mill men, like 
Superintendent Heddron, have found 
that fast feed plus quality production 
203 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


is easily possible on Ayer Planers, be- 
cause, from the ground up, these ma- 
chines are designed and built for that 
very purpose. May we send you the 
new Ayer booklet — Planer Facts? 

THE AYER PLANING 
MACHINE COMPANY, 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

“That’s a better ad than the original,” cried 
Andy happily. “It’s more ‘human’ — more con- 
vincing. Instead of having the Ayer Company 
tell how good Ayer planers are, we’ll let the 
user tell the story — featuring real planing-mill 
men, high up in the industry, whose indorse- 
ment of the machines will carry weight. And 
following along the same line we can get out a 
series of direct-by-mail folders built around rep- 
resentative businesses in different branches of 
the woodworking industry. By jinks ! I believe 
I have my hand on something big!” 


CHAPTER XIX 


The following morning Andy appeared in the 
factory wearing a pair of overalls. The work- 
men joked him good-naturedly about his attire. 
One rough fellow stepped across to where Andy 
was watching two benchmen scrape in the bear- 
ings of a cutterhead and extended his hand in 
the palm of which he had concealed a dab of 
grease. Andy, contrary to the man’s expecta- 
tions, was in no sense embarrassed. He gripped 
the outstretched hand with true friendliness, 
and the mechanic went back to his work with a 
sheepish air. When Andy passed beyond hear- 
ing the man looked after him with a wry smile ; 
then spat violently and gave as his opinion to 
his neighbor : “Mike, there’s a fine kid !” 

That morning Andy wandered into the knife- 
grinding department and became absorbed in 
watching a grim-faced, gray-haired old man who 
appeared to be experimenting with the back bevel 
of a special high-speed-steel planer knife. The 
old gentleman gave Andy scant attention, an- 
205 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


swering the boy’s eager questions in monosylla- 
bles. When he learned that Andy was con- 
nected with the Rollins & Hatch agency he ap- 
peared to take a deeper interest in the visitor, 
even to the point of neglecting his work while he 
regarded Andy with a whimsical, appraising ex- 
pression. 

“So you’re from the agency? With overalls? 
That’s a new one! The other agency fellows 
were seemingly a danged lot more interested in 
their white collars and manicured finger nails 
than in these machines. They made the work- 
men want to throw ’em out. If they hadn’t 
been such pinheads about the machines they’d 
have got next to the men and learned a few 
things about planers. To a man who under- 
stands a machine, that machine is like a human 
being; you’ve got to study it and associate with 
it to know what’s going on inside. After a few 
hours mincing around here trying to keep their 
clothes clean, I’ve seen these cocky young ad- 
vertising theorists hurry back to their nice clean 
desks and proceed to pound out ‘inspirational’ 
copy — at least that’s what one young chap called 
it. Bah! Maybe you think it’s odd for an old 
man like me to take an interest in the advertis- 
206 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


ing end of the business. Well, sonny, I’ve been 
here a long time. Reckon I’ll die in the har- 
ness. Fve watched the business grow from 
practically nothing, and I know these machines. 
I’d like to see them advertised right. They 
never will be until the man who writes the ad- 
vertising understands them as one friend under- 
stands another. Maybe you’re the fellow to do 
it. Suppose you tell me something of your 
plans.” 

Andy was thrilled by the passion in the old 
man’s voice. Recalling the campaign that he 
had sketched roughly the previous night, he told 
the old gentleman about it. When he had fin- 
ished the man said: 

“I take it that you like being here in the fac- 
tory.” 

“Gee- miny! I should say I do.” 

“Ever work in a machine shop?” 

“The only place I ever worked was in a gen- 
eral store. But I guess one of my ancestors 
must have been a machinist, because there’s 
something about the work that fascinates me.” 

“Would you be interested in seeing one of our 
new planers?” the man inquired, regarding Andy 
with eyes suddenly gone warm and friendly. 

207 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“You bet I would. While I’m here I want 
to get all the information I can.” 

“We are building a flooring machine of new 
design. It is in the experimental department. 
Ordinarily a stranger coming into the plant as 
you have would not be given an opportunity to 
see it. But I guess I can fix it so you can see it.” 

He led the way to a locked door on the far side 
of the room. Producing a key he opened the 
door, motioning to Andy to precede him. On 
passing through the doorway, Andy found him- 
self in a small workshop. Two mechanics were 
busy fitting parts to a low, compact machine. 
These men glanced up, nodded briefly to the old 
knife-grinder, and went on with their work. 

“IPs a new idea in flooring machines,” the 
old man explained to Andy. “Ordinarily the 
best planed flooring has to be sanded to provide 
a first-class job. This machine, it is hoped, will 
do such accurate work, both in matching and 
surfacing, that no sanding will be necessary. 
It will revolutionize the planing of hardwood 
flooring — this, of course, in the event that the 
machine proves up.” 

He pointed out the improved cutterheads with 
staggered knives, twelve to the cutting circle, and 
208 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

explained how these operated with a shearing 
cut, thereby making knife-marks impossible. 

“' We’re going to try out the new machine to- 
morrow,” he said. “If you’re around here, drop 
in — that is, if you’re interested.” 

“You can count on me being here,” Andy re- 
turned spiritedly. “I wouldn’t miss it for a 
farm.” 

They passed on out of the experimental de- 
partment, and the old gentleman said: 

“I wonder if you’ll do something for me?” 

“Try me and see,” said Andy feelingly. 

“Suppose you put that advertising plan of 
yours on paper and let me see it. While I know 
little about the science of advertising, I know a 
lot about Ayer planers, and I may be able to 
help you.” 

“I’ll work it out to-night and show it to you 
to-morrow,” Andy promised. 

~~That night he found it easier to arrange his 
thoughts. He was busy at work when there 
came a clatter in the hall and Dingley tumbled 
into the room. 

“Thought I’d drop in to call on you,” he 
greeted noisily, sailing his hat onto the bed. 

209 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Well, I suppose, Mr. Monkey Wrench, you’re a 
full-fledged mechanic now.” 

“It takes a long time to become a real me- 
chanic,” returned Andy, dragging a chair for- 
ward for his guest. Instead of seating himself, 
Dingley walked to the table where Andy had 
been working. 

“What’s this?” he inquired, turning and re- 
garding Andy searchingly. 

“It’s an advertising plan I’m working out for 
the Ayer company.” 

“But it looks like direct-by-mail stuff.” 

“That’s what it is,” Andy admitted a trifle 
uneasily. 

“Rats! You’re wasting your time, Blake. I 
wouldn’t monkey with the direct-by-mail stuff 
if I were you. At least not now. You’ll get in 
above your neck. What’s this? — Ayer-Planed! 
Gee ! Are you going to coin that word and use 
it as a slogan?” 

“That’s part of the campaign,” Andy ex- 
plained enthusiastically. “It’s my idea to ad- 
vertise what the machines are doing instead of 
what they will do. We’ll make the word Ayer - 
Planed mean well-planed and quality-planed 
lumber. It’s an easy name to remember — and 
210 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

it ties up with the name of the company. We 
can have a printing attachment put on the plan- 
ers and on every yard of planed lumber will 
appear this mark of quality — Ayer-Planed . 
We’ll carry the advertising into the national 
magazines, letting the buyers of lumber know 
that Ayer-Planed products — lumber planed on 
Ayer planers — are distinctly quality products. 
And we’ll revamp the direct-by-mail stuff. In- 
stead of the Ayer company telling from their 
standpoint how good Ayer planers are, we’ll get 
the cooperation of leading concerns in different 
lines who are using the machines and let the 
heads of these concerns tell in detail what the 
machines are doing for them. That is what I 
mean when I say we’ll advertise what the ma- 
chines are doing. And we’ll tie up the adver- 
tising distribution with the routing of the sales- 
men, sending the advertising in campaigns, one 
piece a week, ahead of the men in the field. 
That will enable the salesmen to follow up and 
cash in on the educational work the advertising 
performs, even if no sent-in inquiry results. 
We’ll publish a monthly sales department bul- 
letin, as a means of keeping the salesmen posted 
on what we are doing in a sales promotion way, 
211 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


thereby enabling them to nse the advertising to 
the greatest possible benefit. And well — ” 

“For the love of Mike, shut up!” cried Ding- 
ley, pretending he was on the point of fainting. 
“You’re crazier than a loon !” 

Andy cooled on the instant. He regretted, 
now, that in his enthusiasm he had told Ding- 
ley so much about his roughly formed plans. 

“Does the idea as a whole sound so — foolish?” 
he inquired soberly. 

“You’ve been reading Gulliver’s Travels” ac- 
cused Dingley. “Holy smoke! You spill that 
mess of stuff to Old Man Ayer and he’ll send 
in a hurry-up call for the dingy-wagon — or else 
drop dead. Why, to follow a plan like that 
would require an advertising investment of 
twenty times what he is spending right now.” 

“But if we could induce him to adopt the 
plan, wouldn’t it create a wider interest in 
Ayer planers and thereby widen the market? 
Wouldn’t the kind of advertising I have out- 
lined be more of a help to the salesmen?” 

“Offhand I’ll say that in spots the plan listens 
good. But all get-rich-quick schemes do. This 
afternoon a salesman was in the office trying to 
interest us in stock in a new rubberless tire corn- 
212 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


pany — maybe it was an airless tire, I don’t re- 
member. He bad the same convincing lingo.” 

“Gee ! You’re an encouraging cuss,” said 
Andy gloomily. 

Dingley laughed and patted Andy on the 
shoulder. 

“Let’s forget about the planers and run around 
the corner to a movie,” he suggested. 

“I can’t,” returned Andy regretfully. “I’ve 
promised to have my scheme worked out on 
paper to show to-morrow morning to an old gem 
tleman in the knife-grinding department.” 

“Who?” inquired Dingley. 

“I didn’t inquire his name or hear it men* 
tioned. But he’s a fine old gentleman — at least 
he proved so after I got acquainted with him. 
He says he’s been with the company for years 
and years. He knows a lot about Ayer planers. 
I figure he can give me some helpful sugges- 
tions.” 

“Well, see that he doesn’t pass the plan along 
to Ayer. You never can tell what a mistaken 
sense of Royalty’ will prompt some of those old 
codgers to do. By the way — have you seen 
Ayer yet?” 

“I’ve been so busy to-day I forgot to inquire 
213 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

of Rosie if he has returned from Detroit,” Andy 
confessed. 

“ You’re a fine little diplomat — from the 
agency standpoint. Yes, you are nit!” 

“I’ll see him to-morrow, if he’s returned,” 
Andy promised faithfully. 

“Remember; don’t let this half-baked idea of 
yours float around the factory and get into 
Ayer’s hands. There may be some merit to your 
plan; but in any event Mr. Rollins will want to 
study it and have a part in presenting it to the 
client. It’s time for the second show. Well, 
good night, Mr. Advertising Andy.” 

“Where did you get hold of that?” grinned 
Andy. 

Dingley laughed. Drawing a letter from his 
pocket he tossed it to Andy. It proved to be 
from Chuck and Bud, and was addressed to 
Mr. Advertising Andy Blake, in care of the Rol- 
lins & Hatch Company. 

On arriving at the factory the following morn- 
ing, Andy immediately inquired of Rosie if Mr. 
Ayer had returned from Detroit. 

“He’s somewhere in the factory,” Rosie in- 
formed him. 


214 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVEKTISING 

“Thanks. I’ll be on the lookout for him,” 
Andy returned. 

He went at once to the knife-grinding depart- 
ment, and soon he and the old gentleman were 
seated on a box, their heads bent over Andy’s 
plan. The old man brought up numerous ob- 
jections, and in the spirited discussions that 
ensued Andy added greatly to his fund of knowl- 
edge regarding Ayer planers. When he got up 
from his seat on the box and stretched his 
cramped legs he was amazed to see by his watch 
that it was noon. 

“Gee - miny crickets !” he cried in dismay. 
“Here I’ve been talking with you all morning, 
and I was to have seen Mr. Ayer.” 

Just then the factory whistle blew and from 
all parts of the plant the workmen hurried to 
ring out in the time office. 

“Suppose you come home with me to dinner,” 
invited the old gentleman. “I’d like to have you 
meet my wife and son.” 

Andy murmured a few words of thanks and 
happily walked beside the man from the gloom 
of the factory to the sunshine of the street. 

“Maybe I had better leave my plan here in 
the office,” he suggested. 

215 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“No,” said the old gentleman. “I’d like to 
go over it again at my leisure, if you don’t 
mind.” 

Having traversed several tree-shaded blocks, 
they turned in at the private walk leading to an 
old-fashioned house that seemed strangely con- 
spicuous, surrounded as it was by modern dwell- 
ings. With its wide, green lawn, its high, steep- 
pitched roof and narrow, massive-columned 
porches, it seemed possessed of a grave person- 
ality that is frequently the heritage of old age. 

The old gentleman let himself in with a latch- 
key, taking Andy’s hat and hanging it on an 
aneient walnut hall-tree. A fair-haired boy of 
sixteen came skidding down the hall and gave 
the old man an affectionate handclasp. 

“This is my son, Dick,” said the old gentleman 
proudly. “Dick, this is Andy Blake — the boy 
I mentioned to you last evening.” 

Dick gripped Andy’s hand. 

“Glad to meet you, Blake,” he said in a com- 
panionable way. 

“I hope you boys will be good friends,” put 
in the old gentleman. “I think you will find 
you have many common interests.” 

Then he led the way into a quaint, high-ceil- 
216 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


inged sitting-room, where the sunlight streamed 
through the French windows, dancing on the 
polished walnut floor and bathing the lilylike 
face and silvery hair of a lady who sat pillowed 
in an invalid chair. She welcomed the party 
with a smile, and there was, in her expression, 
a motherliness that won Andy’s heart on the 
instant. 

“This is my wife,” said the old gentleman with 
a new note of tenderness in his voice. “Mother, 
this is Andy Blake, a boy I met at the factory.” 

“I’m wonderfully pleased to meet you, Andy,” 
said the invalid in a delicate voice that seemed 
to build up mind pictures of countless hours 
of patient suffering. Andy took the hand that 
she held out to him. He observed, with a thrill 
of chivalry, that it was very frail and very white. 
Dick was sober as he rested his arm on the back 
of his mother’s chair. 

The old gentleman wheeled the invalid into 
an adjoining room where the table was set for 
dinner. Andy was given a place beside Dick. 
Throughout the meal the father and son, as 
though by tacit agreement, kept up a constant 
chatter, recalling with exaggerated humor and 
import a multitude of little things that had 
217 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


happened that morning. The invalid seemed 
very happy under this loving attention ; and, con- 
scious of the fine spirit of the thing, Andy joined 
in and gave an amusing account of the ouija 
board campaign that he had worked out for 
Denny Landers. 

“I’d like to see that man Landers, and Chuck 
and Bud,” said Dick when the meal was finished 
and he guided Andy upstairs to his den. 

“Some time when Pm going back to Cressfield 
on a visit I’ll have you go along,” Andy invited. 
“You sure will like Chuck and Bud. They’re 
fine pals.” 

“I’m going to be your pal, too,” said Dick 
feelingly. 

“Let’s shake on that,” suggested Andy 
earnestly, holding out his hand. 

When Andy arrived at Mrs. West’s that eve- 
ning she met him in the hall. 

“Mr. Ding wants you to call him up,” she 
said. “Main 2443.” 

A moment later Andy recognized Dingley’s 
cheery voice on the line. 

“I tried to get you at the factory this noon, 
but Rosie couldn’t locate you. Afterwards she 
called me up and told me the good news. Con- 
218 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

gratulations, old man! How did you manage 
it?” 

“Manage what?” inquired Andy uncertainly. 

“You’re a deep one,” laughed Dingley. “I 
thought you were a little green, but I see now 
it’s all put on. Say, Blake, better come down 
to the office to-morrow morning. Ayer ’phoned 
Mr. Rollins he wants to go over your plan in 
conference — ” 

“What?” gasped Andy. “Why I — I haven’t 
met Ayer yet. I tried all this afternoon to 
locate him but couldn’t.” 

“Quit your kidding,” said Dingley. “Rosie 
told me about your chumming all day with him 
and about him taking you home to dinner. 
Pretty soft for you. He never paid for any of 
my meals! I suppose you’ll be moving your 
trunk out there next. Why didn’t you tell me 
your ‘old gentleman’ in the knife-grinding de- 
partment was Ayer himself? Why all the deep 
stuff? Well, be sure and be down to-morrow. 
What’s that?” 

“I — I didn’t say anything,” returned Andy, in 
a daze. 

“I thought I heard you groan.” 

219 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Maybe I did — I — Never mind. IT1 see you 
in the morning,” and Andy hung up. 

The kindly old gentleman in the knife-grind- 
ing department — the man to whom he had so 
enthusiastically outlined his advertising plan — 
who even had the plan in his possession at this 
moment — was Mr. Ayer! Andy paced the little 
room, condemning himself for a fool. Why 
hadn’t he inquired who the old gentleman was 
before trusting him so implicitly? Plainly, he 
had made a mess of things. In the miserable 
hours that passed, Andy came near to losing 
some of his boundless confidence in human na- 
ture. 

“I’m out of luck,” he groaned, as he tumbled 
into bed. “Mr. Rollins will get the impression 
that I am impulsive — that I cannot be depended 
upon.” In some strange way he had lost all 
confidence in his advertising plan, and his face 
burned with humiliation when he pictured the 
cynical consideration that his crude work would 
receive at the hands of Mr. Rollins. 

At the office the following morning, he saw 
Mr. Rollins and Mr. Ayer come in together. 
They merely glanced his way and recognized 
him by curt nods. This added to his misery. 

220 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


For an instant he thought how easy it would be 
to rush to his rooming house, get his belongings 
and catch a train for home. Cressfield seemed 
to represent freedom — escape. Denny Landers 
would give him his old job. His mother would 
be happy in having him at home with her again. 
Then he stiffened and cried out in dismay at 
his cowardice. He was no quitter ! 

It seemed ages to him before Miss Manning 
came to the door and asked him to step into his 
employer’s office. Andy complied with a resig- 
nation that was almost mechanical. 

Mr. Rollins, from behind his massive desk, 
glanced up at Andy as the latter came slowly 
into the room. To Andy the man appeared un- 
usually grave, reserved and severe. Mr. Ayer, 
apparently absorbed in moody thoughts, stood 
with his back to the door of the room, looking 
out of the window. 

“Sit down, Blake,” invited Mr. Rollins, indi- 
cating a chair within arm’s reach of where he 
sat. Andy complied dully. Then Mr. Rollins 
continued: “Mr. Ayer and I have been going 
over your plan. Hardly necessary for me to 
state, I am surprised that this came to the at- 
tention of our client in such crude form and 
221 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


before I bad a chance to study it. But the mat- 
ter has been explained in a way that would indi- 
cate that you were more the victim of circum- 
stances than otherwise. 

“There appears to be much of merit to your 
plan. But it is far too fanciful. For example, 
to establish the products of Ayer planers in the 
collective mind of the lumber-buying public 
would require a tremendous advertising invest- 
ment ; and at best it would be a roundabout way 
of getting results. Then, too, the Ayer company 
cannot control the quality of the finished lum- 
ber turned out by their planers, other than pro- 
viding a machine capable of doing quality work. 
An unscrupulous manufacturer, using one Ayer 
planer and several of inferior make, could easily 
mark all his lumber Ayer-Planed and our client 
would have scant redress. So the matter of na- 
tional advertising is beyond consideration at 
this time. 

“On the other hand, your direct-by-mail scheme 
is splendid. Such a series of folders as you have 
outlined will be ideal in creating a buying in- 
terest in Ayer planers. And the trade name — 
Ayer-Planed — can be featured in these folders, 
carrying the suggestion to lumber producers 
222 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


and dealers that Ayer planers are indeed su- 
preme in matters of quality and quantity pro- 
duction. 

“Mr. Ayer tells me he has trouble in getting 
his salesmen to apply themselves, and I under- 
stand they contend that the direct-by-mail ad- 
vertising now in use is of no particular help 
to them. That would indicate that there is need 
for a publication, to reach the salesmen at regu- 
lar intervals and keep them ‘sold’ on the adver- 
tising work of the company. I see you have 
included such a publication in your plan. 

“Summed up, Mr. Ayer is anxious to have part 
of your plan put into immediate effect. And he 
has asked me to turn the task over to you. To 
work out all the details will require unusual 
effort — unusual thought. But you will always 
remember that we are here, all of us, to help 
you. It will be necessary for you to visit the 
plants of various users of Ayer planers, in order 
to get the data around which to build your adver- 
tising stories. That will take time. The Ayer 
company will bear all the expense. Would you 
like to assume complete charge of the work?” 

There was a warm mist in Andy’s eyes. The 
reaction from what he had expected to what 
223 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


had actually taken place left him emotional and 
weak. He found it difficult to express himself. 

“I might add, Andy,” Mr. Ayer put in, “that 
Dick is planning to go with you on your trip, 
as his school will not begin for three weeks. 
That may not be an inducement; but if you dis- 
liked the idea of traveling alone — ” 

At this moment the telephone jingled and 
Miss Manning appeared in the doorway. 

“A call for Mr. Ayer,” she explained. 

The manufacturer stepped to the telephone 
and talked for several minutes; then turned to 
Andy with a warm smile on his kindly face. 

“It is Dick,” he said simply. “He appears to 
be bubbling over with impatience and wants to 
know if you can start on your trip this coming 
Saturday instead of waiting till next week. 
What shall I tell him, Andy?” 

“Tell him — yes!” cried Andy happily. 


CHAPTER XX 


Conscious of an invigorating tang in the clear 
morning atmosphere, Andy Blake and his trav- 
eling companion, Dick Ayer, swung briskly 
down the principal residence street of Cobart, 
Indiana, in the general direction of the Forman 
Washing Machine Company plant. Both boys 
were in high spirits. The trip that had taken 
them into the heavily wooded west and south 
was about completed and shortly they would be 
back in the city again. 

“Yes, this is our last stop,” said Andy in an- 
swer to a question that Dick had put to him. 
“It’ll take me about four hours at the Forman 
plant to get the data I need; then we’ll have 
dinner at the hotel and take an afternoon train 
into Chicago.” 

“That must be your factory over there,” said 
Dick, pointing to where a brick smokestack 
reared its grimy, soot-mantled head above the 
aged elm trees that lazily shaded the sleepy 
street. 


22 5 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Following a well-traveled walk, the boys soon 
came within sight of the Forman factory. 

“It’s a peach of a plant, all right,” said Dick 
enthusiastically, his eyes resting approvingly on 
the factory’s attractive concrete window-walls 
and carefully tended lawn. “Not much like 
those big open planing mills we saw down 
south.” 

“This is a vastly different kind of an indus- 
try,” returned Andy. He paused abruptly as a 
familiar sound smote his ears. There was a 
sparkle in his eyes and a thrill in his heart as 
he gripped the handle of his black leather port- 
folio and touched his companion on the arm. 
“Do you get that?” he cried. 

“It’s a wood planer, isn’t it?” returned Dick. 

“Not a wood planer — an Ayer planer, boy! 
Glory be! Don’t you recognize the music of 
your father’s planers when you hear one in ac- 
tion? Just listen to it! Say, I bet it’s doing 
one hundred and fifty feet a minute if it’s doing 
an inch. Come on ! There’s the office over 
there. Let’s go in.” 

A few minutes later the boys were cordially 
received in the lobby by the superintendent. 
Small and active to the point of nervousness, 
226 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVEKTISING 


Mr. Timmons was plainly a very busy man. Yet 
he listened with interest while Andy explained 
his proposed scheme of featuring the Forman 
company in the advertising of the Ayer company. 

“I imagine our advertising manager, Mr. 
Whitley, will be interested in your scheme,” 
stated the superintendent when Andy finished. 
“First, we’ll take a little run through the factory 
so that you may see for yourself what the ma- 
chines are doing ; then, I’ll introduce you to Mr. 
Whitley. It is my impression that he has some 
very good photographs in his files showing our 
Ayer surface rs in operation. You probably can 
use these to help illustrate your story.” 

On the trip through the splendidly organized 
factory, Andy made detailed notes, particularly 
on the work performed by the company’s three 
Ayer surfacers. The operators of these ma- 
chines responded to his friendly advances and 
gave him valuable information. It was his in- 
tention to familiarize himself with the various 
manufacturing processes, so that he could pic- 
ture, in the proposed advertising, the complete 
manufacturing scheme. Throughout the story 
he would see that the reader’s attention was 
focused on the three Ayer surfacers — strong 
227 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


links in the efficient Forman production chain. 

But the manufacturing scheme, a fascinating 
thing under Andy’s plan of analysis, occupied 
only a portion of his attention. He found him- 
self gripped with a great interest in the product 
itself. Timmons guided him to the demonstra- 
tion room, where Andy was made familiar with 
the simple yet effective principle of the Forman 
washer. With one of the machines in operation, 
Timmons pointed out the “rubbing boards” in 
the tub. These prepared the solid materials for 
the cleansing effect of the cascade of soapy water 
that was dashed down and through the materials 
by the pendulumlike action of the tub. 

“You certainly have an interesting proposi- 
tion,” was Andy’s enthusiastic comment, when 
they were back in the busy lobby with its back- 
ground of clicking typewriters and adding ma- 
chines. 

“It is,” agreed the superintendent warmly. 
“In fact, the whole history of the company is 
interesting, starting from the time Mr. Forman 
built his first working model in a little shop 
back of his kitchen. That was only a few 
years ago. In a way we have been highly for- 
tunate, for a depleted domestic help market dur- 
228 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


ing the World War created a demand for 
labor-saving household appliances at a time 
when we were in a position to provide a practical 
domestic laundry unit. The business came to us 
in those days, instead of us going after it. But 
that condition does not endure to-day; and right 
now the company is planning a nation-wide ad- 
vertising campaign, with a view of intrenching 
our position of supremacy in the motor-washer 
field. Our directors at a recent meeting voted 
to spend during the coming year a quarter of 
a million dollars in magazine advertising.” 

Andy felt a thrill pass through his body. 

“Wough!” he cried, his eyes sparkling. “A 
quarter of a million dollars! That’s sure some 
advertising appropriation. May I inquire what 
agency will handle the account?” 

Timmons smiled into Andy’s boyishly eager 
face. 

“That is information you’ll have to get from 
Mr. Whitley, our advertising manager,” said he. 
“Suppose we step into his office so that you can 
meet him. He’ll be glad to tell you something 
about his plans, I imagine.” 

The advertising manager, although a man of 
not more than twenty-five years of age, had a 
229 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


good deal of poise and a certain air of reserved 
studiousness that marked him as having unusual 
analytical and executive ability. 

He was interested in Andy’s plan and person- 
ally attended to getting together the photographs 
showing the factory, the product, and the va- 
rious manufacturing operations in which Ayer 
surfacers had an important part. In the course 
of the conversation, Andy broached the subject 
that he had been revolving in his mind since his 
talk with Mr. Timmons. 

“I’m interested in your proposition both from 
a production angle and a selling angle, Mr. Whit- 
ley. I understand that you are planning to do 
some heavy national advertising during the com- 
ing year. Naturally, as a representative of the 
Rollins & Hatch advertising agency, the thought 
comes to me, What agency will handle the 
account? That may be a closed issue; but if 
it isn’t, I would like to have the opportunity 
of telling you how and why the Rollins & Hatch 
organization might be of distinct service to you.” 

There was a warm twinkle in Whitley’s eyes 
as he leaned back in his chair and regarded 
Andy attentively. 

“Ah, ha! I begin to smell a mouse. Instead 
230 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

of giving us some free advertising you’re trying 
to sell us something,” he joked. Then, on the 
instant, he put aside his levity and gravely ex- 
plained : “We have no agency connection as yet ; 
but it is our intention to settle the matter 
shortly. A number of the foremost Chicago 
agencies have been tentatively working with us. 
I have several drawers full of suggested ideas, 
some very practical, some highly extravagant. 
The representatives of these agencies will be 
granted final interviews to-morrow. We, of 
course, will ultimately decide in favor of the 
organization that seems best fitted to work with 
us on our program of expansion.” 

Andy experienced a thrill. Imbued with a fine 
sense of loyalty, and recognizing the masterly 
ability of the men at the head of the Rollins & 
Hatch organization, he felt that no agency in the 
Middle West was so well fitted to handle the 
Forman account as Rollins & Hatch. He tried 
to picture this in his conversation with Mr. 
TVhitley; and upon the termination of the in- 
terview arranged with the advertising manager 
to have the Rollins & Hatch Company repre- 
sented at the next day’s conference. 

231 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


When Andy and Dick were in the open air, 
Andy almost ran in his excitement. 

“Good night! What’s the idea of all the 
speed?” grumbled Dick, who objected to being 
hurried along the sidewalk in the direction of 
the hotel. 

“We’ve got to get in touch with Mr. Rollins 
as soon as possible,” cried Andy excitedly. 
“He’ll probably want to come down here and 
give personal attention to the matter. The 
sooner we get word to him, the more time he’ll 
have to prepare his campaign. It isn’t every day 
we get a chance to pick off a quarter-million- 
dollar advertising contract. I’ll say not!” 

On arriving at the hotel, Andy put in a long 
distance call for Mr. Rollins, promising the girl 
a dollar tip if she could get a “through” line 
inside of ten minutes. He paid the dollar gladly 
when she directed him into the booth six minutes 
later. 

As quickly and concisely as his excited state of 
mind would permit, Andy outlined the situation 
to his attentive employer. The latter injected a 
few crisp questions; then advised: “I’ll leave 
here by motor to-morrow morning. It is less 
than a four-hour drive to Cobart, and I’ll meet 
232 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

you at the hotel at twelve o’clock. Good work, 
Blake !” 

“I’ll be on the lookout for you,” said Andy, 
happy under his employer’s words of commen- 
dation. “I’ll make an appointment with Mr. 
Whitley for you to see him at three o’clock. Is 
there anything further I can do from this end 
to cinch matters, Mr. Rollins?” 

“I can think of nothing, unless it would be to 
learn what agencies will be represented at the 
conference.” 

Andy was jubilant when he returned to where 
Dick sat buried in one of the massive lobby 
lounging chairs. 

“Mr. Rollins’ll turn the trick just as sure as 
shootin’,” he said with conviction, wanting to 
execute a few hilarious dance steps, but refrain- 
ing under the thought that such an exhibition 
would likely attract amazed attention from the 
other occupants of the lobby. 

Directly after lunch Andy telephoned to Mr. 
Whitley, inquiring the names of the agency rep- 
resentatives who would be present at the next 
day’s conference. His question seemed to net- 
tle the advertising manager, who gave a curt 
233 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

negative reply and broke off the conversation 
by hanging up his receiver. 

“I sure pulled a boner that time,” said Andy 
gloomily. “I guess it wasn’t ethical for me to 
ask that question of Mr. Whitley. Blast it all! 
I’m forever getting things balled up that way.” 

“Maybe the desk clerk can help you,” sug- 
gested Dick. 

“Bully boy!” cried Andy, instantly shedding 
his mantle of gloom. He lost no time getting 
the attention of the rather dignified clerk. “I’m 
connected with the Rollins & Hatch advertising 
agency of Chicago,” he explained. “I under- 
stand several agency representatives will be 
coming in to-night and to-morrow. Would you 
mind letting me know if you have any reserva- 
tions on hand, wired in or attended to by the 
Forman company?” 

The clerk saw nothing wrong with this request. 
From the dozen or more slips that Andy looked 
over he wrote down the names of five Chicago 
agency representatives and then sent a telegram 
to Mr. Rollins. 

With the arrival of the evening train from 
Chicago, several clean-cut business men put in 
an appearance. Each man carried a bulky port- 
234 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


folio in addition to his traveling bag, and Andy 
could imagine these portfolios as containing 
material bearing on the marketing of Forman 
washing machines. The men seemed more or 
less acquainted with one another, but in their 
lobby conversation, as it touched on the Forman 
company, there was a certain perceptible re- 
straint. Shortly after nine o’clock, a tall, well- 
groomed, cynical-appearing man came into the 
hotel and, with little more than a curt nod in 
the direction of the other agency representatives, 
registered and passed on to his room. He 
plainly had just arrived from Chicago by motor. 

“It’s Myers, of the Morton-Myers agency,” 
Andy breathlessly confided to Dick, after a trip 
of inspection to the register. “I guess from the 
way he carries himself — so stiff and important — 
he considers it’s going to be a walk-over for him. 
Maybe he wouldn’t feel so cocky if he knew that 
Mr. Rollins is going to be on the job to-morrow.” 

At eleven-thirty Andy and Dick went up to 
their room. Dick, with a huge yawn, dropped 
onto the edge of the bed and began unlacing his 
shoes. 

“It’s a bit tough not to be home to-night,” said 
he sleepily. “I’d figured on it. I’m crazy to see 
235 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Mother and Dad again. This is the first time in 
my life that I’ve been away from them for three 
whole weeks.” 

“I’m just as anxious as you to get back to the 
city,” confessed Andy, kicking off his shoes and 
slipping out of his collar and tie. “Oh, boy, but 
I’m going to be busy ! On this trip I’ve gathered 
data for advertising stories from no less than 
fourteen lumber and woodworking concerns. It 
will take time to work this stuff into finished 
advertising circulars.” 

Dick was shortly in the land of contented 
dreams. Not so with Andy. He tossed about 
between the sheets, his eyes seemingly propped 
open, his thoughts given over to a happy contem- 
plation of the ease with which Mr. Rollins would 
land the quarter-million-dollar-advertising con- 
tract. His confidence and faith in the ability 
of his employer was supreme. 

A nearby tower clock donged the hour of mid- 
night. Andy counted the even-measured, reso- 
nant strokes. He was still immersed in his 
thoughts when the clock sounded the hour of 
twelve-thirty, then one. By this time Andy was 
so restless he could no longer contain himself 
in the bed. Arising, he crossed to the window 
236 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


and sat for some time looking out into the silent, 
slumbering night. Something from out of the 
stillness called to him. Dressing, he noiselessly 
let himself out of the room, having no desire to 
disturb Dick, who was breathing deep and long. 

The streets were shrouded in silence and his 
footfalls sent strange echoes ahead of him as he 
walked briskly away from the hotel. From out 
of the star-studded sky came a faint night breeze, 
that soothingly touched his face and brought to 
him a definite sense of contentment. There was 
a happy thrill in his heart as his thoughts turned 
to his advertising work and he visualized the 
success that he had achieved. 

It seemed to him a long, long time ago when 
first he turned his attention to advertising, and 
secured from the Cressfield library the books that 
had given him his first insight into the purpose 
and mechanics of advertising. He drew a men- 
tal contrast between the Andy Blake who had 
hired out to Denny Landers and the young busi- 
ness man now traversing the streets of a strange 
city, his mind given over to the problems of 
Industry. 

Andy vividly recalled the ribbon sale he had 
staged for Denny Landers. He had been gripped 
237 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


with uncertainty at the time, not knowing how 
things would work out. At this thought he en- 
tertained a smile. How different he felt now! 
How confident! How competent! 

In his reverie, Andy recalled the quarrel he 
had had with Clarence Corey when he was work- 
ing on the delivery wagon. Chuck Wilson, in a 
recent letter, had mentioned the Coreys — it 
seemed they were again trading with Landers. 

“Charley Corey, Clarence’s father, is termed a 
successful man in Cressfield business circles, but 
I want to be a bigger man than that,” mused 
Andy dreamily. “I want to be like Mr. Rollins — 
deep, capable, resourceful, experienced and fair. 
And I believe I can be that kind of a man if I 
apply myself and put into my work every ounce 
of energy and ability that I possess. I sure am 
going to do my level best.” 

Andy then permitted his thoughts to return 
to the Forman contract. In his imagination he 
pleasantly visualized the amazement of Dingley 
and the probable envy of certain other members 
of the Rollins & Hatch organization, when it was 
generally known how the quarter-million-dollar 
contract had been made possible. Andy was 
human ; and he did not blind himself to the fact 
238 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


that the closing of negotiations between the 
Forman company and Rollins & Hatch would 
give him a certain desirable prestige in the eyes 
of the management. This was a pleasing 
thought. 

The tower clock signaled in three measured 
strokes as Andy returned to his room. The brisk 
walk in the soothing night air had caused his 
eyelids to droop. Shortly he joined Dick in 
dreamland. 

When the boys came down the following 
morning, the desk clerk signaled to Andy. 

“A telegram,” the man said crisply, handing 
Andy a yellow envelope. 

For a brief instant Andy was gripped with 
alarm. A telegram is always suggestive of a 
crisis — of a dramatic or dynamic turn of events. 
His hand crumpled the message as he stiffened 
in every muscle. Then he nervously tore open 
the envelope and unfolded the enclosed yellow 
sheet. The telegram carried the address of a 
small town half way between Cobart and Chi- 
cago, and read: 

A sudden though not serious stomach 
disorder prevents my coming further. 

Do your best to secure the contract. 

239 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Whatever the results may be, Rollins & 
Hatch will be satisfied you did your 
best. I am returning to Chicago by rail. 

Milo Rollins. 

The thing came to Andy like a thunderbolt 
from out a serene blue sky. Into his confused 
mind flashed a picture of the capable business 
men he had observed in the hotel lobby the pre- 
vious evening. In the foreground was Myers — 
cool, superior, cynical. And a strange Fortune 
had decreed that he — Andy Blake, a mere boy 
and new to the ways of business — was to pit his 
efforts against these seasoned, experienced men ! 
He had depended on Mr. Rollins to arrive on the 
scene and carry through the deal successfully. 
And now — 

Handing the telegram to Dick, Andy went 
dully to his room, where with hands clenched 
till the nails of his tense fingers all but cut into 
the flesh, he paced the floor, vainly trying to col- 
lect his scattered thoughts. “I must win!” he 
cried despairingly. “I must justify Mr. Rollins* 
confidence in me!” But the more he struggled 
to shape a plan of action the greater became his 
confusion. 

Andy never confided in Dick the detail hap- 
240 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


penings of that memorable afternoon. To have 
done so would have humiliated him tremen- 
dously, and the personal pride that lurked in 
his heart fought against any such confession. 
It was this dominating personal pride that cried, 
“Don’t! Don’t!” when upon his return to the 
hotel his companionable lips sought to shape an 
answer to the eager questions in Dick’s anxious 
eyes. 

Mr. Whitley had given him a most cordial 
reception, introducing him to the company’s 
elderly general manager, Mr. Forman. Both 
executives seemed to grasp the situation when he 
explained about Mr. Rollins’ sudden illness, and 
they did everything in their power to put him 
at his ease. 

The thing that unnerved Andy was the pres- 
ence of the man Myers. True, Myers kept silent 
in the background while Andy stumbled through 
a word picture of the personnel, the latitude and 
stability of the Rollins & Hatch organization; 
but this very silence seemed to radiate cynicism 
and tolerance. 

In the course of the interview a discussion 
arose regarding the method employed by the 
Rollins & Hatch Company of figuring the agency 
241 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


commission. Andy endeavored to explain, point- 
ing out that instead of billing the client at 
the total magazine rate less the customary two 
per cent ten days, a plan followed by most agen- 
cies, the Rollins & Hatch Company used, for a 
basic figure, the billing of the publication to the 
agency to which was added the fifteen per cent 
agency commission, the total subject to a pro- 
visional two per cent discount. Andy stumbled 
through this explanation. His face flamed as he 
noted the tolerant expression in Myers’ cold gray 
eyes. Whitley inquired if the method employed 
by the Rollins & Hatch Company caused a dif- 
ference in the total billing to the client, as com- 
pared with the regular method. Andy stated 
that the difference was slight, and attempted to 
give an example. When he found himself unable 
to proceed, Myers took a hand. 

“I think I understand what the boy means,” 
he stated suavely, with emphasis on the word 
“boy.” “I will figure it for you, Mr. Whitley.” 
And he did — with an ease that brought misery to 
Andy’s heart as he trembled under the burden of 
complete humiliation. The interview came to a 
close shortly after that. And as Andy miserably 
242 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


returned to the hotel, the cry, “Defeat! De- 
feat!” kept crashing in his ears. 

It was in those unhappy moments that Andy 
came to realize how little he knew of business as 
a whole, notwithstanding the fact that only a 
few hours previous, in the seclusion of the night, 
he had walked the streets of Cobart, reflecting 
contentedly on the progress he had made since 
turning his attention to advertising. He could 
see now that his progress had been in advertis- 
ing and not in business . There is where he had 
made his mistake. He should have continued 
with his regular studies in order to get the proper 
foundation for a general business career. He 
should not have given all his attention to adver- 
tising, because advertising, after all, is but a 
part of business. Had he known more about 
business he would not have made such a failure 
in presenting his case to Mr. Whitley and the 
general manager. In that moment Andy was 
heart-hungry for the school whose door he had 
elected to close behind him forever. 


CHAPTER XXI 


There was a gray, tired expression on Andy’s 
face and dull misery in the depths of his warm 
brown eyes when he appeared at the office the 
following morning. Somehow he experienced a 
strange aversion toward the surroundings that 
hitherto had been a source of inspiration to him. 
His desk seemed strange and cold. The walls of 
the little room seemed to shut out the sunlight 
and air — and freedom. 

Dingley greeted * Andy hilariously. 

“Hurrah! The calf’s home; let’s kill the 
prodigal,” he joked, pumping Andy’s listless 
arm up and down with true friendliness. The 
joke, a small thing in itself, and entirely unin- 
tentional on Dingley’s part as a matter of offense, 
caused Andy to wince. Dingley noticed this. On 
the instant his hilarity melted away. 

“What’s the matter, Blake?” he inquired, look- 
ing into Andy’s eyes, his own registering 
friendly concern. 

“Nothing,” returned Andy, turning away. 

244 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Sick?” persisted Dingley. 

“No; I’m all right,” replied Andy. Almost 
rudely he turned his back on Dingley, dropping 
into his desk chair. Mechanically, he unbuckled 
his portfolio and began spreading its contents 
upon the desk. He could have shrieked his mis- 
ery as he felt Dingley’s surprised and pained 
gaze boring into the back of his head. Then he 
heard Dingley go quietly out of the room. 

For the next hour Andy feverishly employed 
his time with the contents of the portfolio, get- 
ting the data he had gathered on his trip in shape 
for filing. He was thus employed when a step 
sounded behind him. He turned to face Miss 
Manning, who requested him to step into Mr. 
Rollins’ office. 

For an instant Andy’s heart seemed to stand 
still. He had anticipated this moment — and 
always at the thought of it there came to him a 
feeling of dread. Not for one moment did he 
doubt that he had lost the Forman advertising 
contract ; but to tell why he had lost the contract 
would be humiliating in the extreme. At the 
bare thought of such a confession the dominant 
personal pride in his heart seemed to shriek: 
“Don’t tell him the truth! Don’t let him know 
245 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


how inefficient yon really are — how little you 
know of business as a whole. He credits you 
with having a knowledge of business; let him 
keep on thinking so. Don’t tell him that you 
acted like a schoolboy in knee trousers! That 
will cause him to lose confidence in you and in- 
terfere with your success.” 

His mind torn by a desire to do the manly 
thing, notwithstanding the contrary promptings 
of the personal pride that flamed in his heart, 
Andy dully entered his employer’s office. Mr. 
Rollins greeted him warmly; then gravely 
handed him a letter. Mechanically, Andy took 
the letter and read : 

The Rollins & Hatch Co v 
Chicago , 111 . 

Gentlemen : 

This letter is to express our appreciation for the 
interest that your company has taken in our 
proposition. 

We regret to report that your Mr. Blake’s pres- 
entation of your case at the conference this after- 
noon did not make us feel that the Rollins & 
Hatch organization is prepared to give us the 
service we need. 

You probably will be interested in knowing that 
246 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

we have closed negotiations with the Morton- 
Myers Company. 

Respectfully, 

Forman Washing Machine Company, 
E. H. Whitley, 
Advertising Manager. 

Andy’s face burned. His hand trembled as 
he handed the letter back to Mr. Rollins. A mist 
blurred his vision. 

“They made a monkey out of me,” he blurted. 
“I didn’t have a fair chance, Mr. Rollins. I 
tried — but I didn’t have a fair chance. They 
were tolerant in their attitude toward me. Just 
because I am a boy they — ■” 

“Just a moment, Blake,” interrupted Mr. 
Rollins quietly, as he came closer to Andy and 
placed a steady hand on his shoulder. “You 
seem to misunderstand my motive in sending for 
you. Why, I have no thought of criticism in 
mind ! Your defense is entirely unnecessary. I 
am thinking of you , not of the lost contract. I 
can see from Mr. Whitley’s letter that your being 
a boy worked against you. That probably was 
not pleasant for you. I’m mighty sorry, Blake. 
I thought better of the Forman company than 
247 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

to do a thing like that. Now, compose yourself 
and tell me, as best you can, exactly what took 
place.” 

Still flushed, and responding to the dictations 
of the pride that surged in his heart, Andy pic- 
tured the conference: The cynical Myers, the 
tolerant Whitley, the noncommittal general man- 
ager. He made no mention of his own shortcom- 
ings, omitting all mention of the discussion that 
had arisen in regard to the method employed by 
the Rollins & Hatch Company of billing the 
client. Throughout the recital, Mr. Rollins 
listened attentively, his penetrating eyes never 
once leaving Andy’s face. 

When Andy returned to his office he was more 
miserable than words could express. His con- 
science smote him. He had acted a lie ! For a 
wild moment he felt an impulse to rush back to 
his employer and make a clean breast of the 
whole wretched affair. Then the voice in his 
heart clamored with renewed force, “Don’t be a 
fool ! Don’t ruin your chances to succeed ! Let 
the matter stand!” 

As the morning advanced the tumult within 
Andy’s mind seemed to subside before a dom- 
inant determination to go back to his books and 
248 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


acquire the knowledge of things he now realized 
he should have in order to make a success of 
his work. 

When the noon hour came, he avoided Ding- 
ley, though the two of them usually lunched 
together. Andy did not want his office compan- 
ion to know what he intended doing. From one 
of the other men in the office he inquired the 
location of the central headquarters of the Y.M. 
C.A. He proceeded there at once, feeling no 
desire for food. The secretary welcomed him 
warmly, and listened with great interest while 
Andy pictured his situation and expressed a de- 
sire to take up night schooling. When he con- 
cluded the secretary said feelingly: 

“Blake, I think I understand your case per- 
fectly. You are one of a thousand boys in busi- 
ness, some in offices, some in factories, many of 
whom I am sorry to say never awaken to the 
fact, as you have, that business success can be 
built with greater certainty and ease on an edu- 
cational foundation. There are self-made men, 
men who have forged their way to success with 
practically no schooling; but whenever I hear 
of such a man, and review his accomplishments, 
I have the thought that he would have attained 
249 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


his success sooner, or accomplished vastly more, 
had he been given the benefit of proper schooling. 

“A great many boys on leaving school, as 
you have done, drift along, content with the 
thought that they are ‘making money.’ They at- 
tain a certain measure of success, because indus- 
try and application bring reward. But always 
they are handicapped by the lack of schooling. 

“You may not have heard these figures, Blake, 
but statisticians tell us that only one uneducated 
child in one hundred and fifty thousand is able 
to accomplish anything that is worthy of mention 
in the progress of his state; that children of 
common or grade school education win out four 
times as often as the uneducated child; that a 
high school education gives young men and 
young women eighty-seven times as much chance 
to succeed; that a college training makes men 
and women eight hundred times as likely to suc- 
ceed. These are amazing figures. Yet they are 
authentic, and may well command the serious 
reflection of every boy in the country. I can 
only hope that some day we will have at our 
command a means of reaching all the boys in 
business — boys who have had to give up their 
regular schooling and go to work — with a mes- 
250 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


sage or influence that will cause them to recog- 
nize the need of carrying on their school work 
until they have obtained at least the equivalent 
of a complete high school education. 

“To-night I want you to come back and meet 
our Mr. Finley. He has charge of our educa- 
tional work and will help you decide on a study 
program. I imagine he will start you in right 
away. In our regular high school curriculum 
our required courses are English, mathematics, 
embracing algebra and geometry, history, phy- 
sics and modern language. There are many 
elective courses, among them bookkeeping and 
finance, both valuable in your line of work. Mr. 
Finley will explain about the tuition charges, 
but I can assure you they will be light.” 

When Andy returned to the office, he avoided 
Dingley’s questioning glances. As he took up 
his work, he struggled to dismiss from his mind 
the scene in Mr. Rollins’ office. And when the 
picture persisted in dominating his thoughts, he 
sought to justify his actions by arguing that it 
did Mr. Rollins no harm not to know the whole 
story. The contract was lost. That was all 
there was to the matter. 

But the voice of conscience was not to be stifled 
251 

v 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


so easily. As the afternoon carried through and 
drew near to a close, Andy found himself nervous 
and sick at heart. On reviewing his day’s work, 
he was dismayed to note how little he had ac- 
complished. 

Throughout the day Dingley had observed his 
office companion closely. Several times he 
seemed on the point of saying something, but 
refrained. At length he seemed to arrive at a 
certain determination and took a stand beside 
Andy’s desk. 

“Blake,” he blurted out, “there’s one thing you 
seemingly haven’t grasped in your association 
with me, and that is that I’m your friend. I 
may be a crazy guy, noisy and not very deep, 
but I know how to be a pal, and I’m thinking 
that’s what you need right now. Something’s 
happened. I can see it in your face and in your 
actions. I don’t know what it is, but I do know 
it’s troubling you. You can’t let things run 
along this way. Suppose you unburden your- 
self, old man? I know how to keep a fellow’s 
confidence. And I may be able to help you. Two 
heads, you know, are better than one, even if 
one is a blockhead.” 

“It — it isn’t anything — of consequence,” re- 
252 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

turned Andy, evading Dingley’s direct gaze. 
“You couldn’t help me. I’m grateful, though, 
for your — interest in me.” 

“All right, old pal,” said Dingley quietly, his 
voice tinged with disappointment. Without an- 
other word he took some proofs from his desk 
and went noiselessly out of the room. 

Andy tried more desperately than ever to con- 
centrate on his work. His efforts were futile. 
The strain was beginning to tell on his system. 
A door slammed behind him, and his punished 
nerves reacted like the recoil of a gun. He was 
on the very verge of distraction when Tub, the 
fat office boy, lumbered into the room and hung 
over the desk in a confidential mood. 

“I’m awful glad to see you back, Andy,” said 
Tub feelingly, his heart showing in his round 
eyes. “Bet you had a swell trip. Oh, boy ! I’d 
like to travel out west and down south on the 
company’s kale. Say, Andy, what you goin’ to 
do to-night?” 

“Why, I have no particular plans,” returned 
Andy, forgetting for the moment his invitation 
to come to the Y.M.C.A. 

“You remember what you promised?” 

253 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

“What was that?” inquired Andy, regarding 
Tub uncertainly. 

“About cornin’ down our way some night to 
meet the gang. We’re goin’ to have a tribe 
meetin’ to-night. Some of the fellows ain’t been 
doin’ right lately. Dinty Moore’s been smokin’ 
coffin nails ag’in. And Shark Maloney’s been 
swipin’ money out of milk bottles and tellin’ 
lies. I’ve talked to ’em and told ’em that’ll 
never get ’em anywhere. They don’t pay much 
attention to me. And to-night, Andy, I’d sort 
of like to have you say a little somethin’ to ’em, 
if you will. Don’t preach — they won’t like that. 
Just talk like a pal, and tell ’em how you’ve 
found it pays to be on the square — to be honest 
and not steal and tell lies and — ” 

Something inside of Andy’s heart seemed to 
crash. 

“Don’t, Tub !” he cried miserably. Then, while 
the boy followed him with amazed eyes, Andy 
rushed toward Mr. Rollins’ office. 

With feverish steps he crossed to where Mr. 
Rollins was seated at his great mahogany desk. 
The executive glanced up inquiringly ; then hur- 
riedly got on to his feet. 

254 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“Why, Blake, what is the matter?” he de- 
manded anxiously. 

“Mr. Rollins, I didn’t tell you the whole story 
this morning. I acted a lie by keeping from 
you the things I should have told you. The 
Forman people didn’t make a monkey out of 
me — I did that myself. They did give me a fair 
chance, but I wasn’t man enough to put it over. 
I failed because I don’t know enough about busi- 
ness — I haven’t an education. Why, when put 
to the test, I couldn’t even work a simple prob- 
lem in arithmetic! 

“And I’ve come to tell you, Mr. Rollins, that 
I’ll work till I drop to do the things you want 
me to do. I’ve arranged to take up night school 
at the Y.M.C.A. It will require time for me 
to get the training I need. But if you’ll bear 
with me for a few months — ” 

Mr. Rollins reached for Andy’s hand. He 
gripped it as only one friend can grip the hand 
of another in a moment such as this. And there 
was in his kindly face a light that Andy never 
forgot. 

“Blake ! I’m proud of you,” he said. 


255 


CHAPTER XXII 


Summer ran its sun-high course and died in 
a flurry of frost-tinged leaves. The transforma- 
tion was gradual. Even to Andy, used to the 
ways of Nature, the definite change from sum- 
mer green to autumnal gold carried little or no 
suggestion of the coming winter. Maybe this 
was because Andy’s time was wholly taken up 
with more dynamic things. His days in master- 
ing the problems of business, more particularly 
the problems of advertising; his evenings in 
earnest study at the Y.M.C.A. 

Then there came a morning in early Decem- 
ber when the city of Chicago awakened to the 
clamoring shriek of the north wind, as it 
whipped madly through the canonlike streets. 
There was a dull, constant roar from the lake as 
the waves towered like shivering mountains of 
icy spray and beat against the breakwaters. 
“Winter is here !” was the cry on every lip. Peo- 
ple dispiritedly went about the task of preparing 
themselves for the day’s work; and when they 
256 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


reluctantly appeared in the snow-covered streets 
they gripped their coats tightly about their 
throats and made their progress with heads bent 
forward, the better to protect their faces from 
the cutting snow bullets. 

As Andy entered the little office that he shared 
with Dingley, he sensed a definite oppressiveness 
in the atmosphere. His office companion sat 
slouched in his desk chair, his face buried in a 
morning newspaper. Seated on a corner of 
Dingley’s desk was Evans, the temperamental 
art director. Just now' the artist appeared more 
moody and unsociable than usual. 

“Shucks ! You fellows oughtn’t to let a little 
snowstorm like this get your goat,” laughed 
Andy, as he shed his overcoat and kicked off his 
rubbers. He unfolded a spotless handkerchief 
and wfiped the traces of the snow from his ruddy, 
tingling face. “I think it’s great! It takes me 
back to the good old days when I was a kid. Oh, 
how I used to look forward to the first snowfall ! 
Then out would come the old bob and away I’d 
hike for Colley Hill — ” 

“Say! Who invited you to recite?” cut in 
Evans ungraciously, his face darkened by a 
scowl. 


257 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Andy became silent on the instant, sensing that 
the dejection of his office companion and the ar- 
tist was caused by a thing more material than 
the blizzard. He regarded Evans uncertainly 
through questioning eyes. Andy was constantly 
at a loss to understand the artist. There were 
moments when Evans seemed to be the embodi- 
ment of kindness, and in those rare moments 
there was something so intensely human about 
the man that Andy was strangely attracted to 
him. Then, for no apparent reason, Evans’ mood 
would change instantaneously and he seemed 
happy in saying things that cut and stung. He 
was plainly in such a mood at this particular 
moment. 

“I suppose I’ll be out of a job,” spoke up 
Dingley unhappily. He nervously threw aside 
the newspaper and got onto his feet. Never 
before had Andy seen his office companion so 
grave and troubled. “Some of Myers’ work,” 
stated Dingley, reading the question in Andy’s 
anxious eyes. “He’s cribbed the Imperial ac- 
count on us, Blake — and just when we had them 
nicely started on national advertising. Good 
night! The hours I’ve put in on that account! 
Read that!” he concluded, handing Andy the 
258 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

morning newspaper and indicating a certain 
article. 

“I — I don’t understand,” faltered Andy, grip- 
ping the newspaper mechanically. 

“Can’t you read?” spoke up Evans sharply. 

This cutting remark brought a flush to Andy’s 
sensitive face and served to collect his scattered 
thoughts. He gave his attention to the news- 
paper article that Dingley pointed out to him. 
It was a brief notice to the effect that Corliss 
Amendson, advertising manager of the Imperial 
Candy Company, had resigned. A man by the 
name of R. R. Allen had been appointed to take 
over his duties. Allen’s picture was given in the 
newspaper, together with brief mention of the 
fact that for several years he had served as copy 
chief for the Chicago branch of the Morton- 
Myers advertising agency. 

“This isn’t the first raw deal that Myers has 
handed us,” said Dingley gloomily. “Last year 
he got the Agate Shirt Waist account away from 
us. Now, he’s hooked us for the Imperial ac- 
count.” 

“But the newspaper doesn’t say anything 
about the Imperial company’s changing agen- 
259 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


cies,” Andy pointed out, looking into Dingley’s 
face uncertainly. 

At this remark, Evans gave a deep sigh of 
disgust. He regarded Andy with tolerant disin- 
terest, his lips curled sneeringly, then he 
slouched out of the room. Andy recognized the 
uncomplimentary inference in the man’s actions. 
Again the color mounted to his cheeks. 

“He tries to make out Em hopelessly dumb,” 
he cried resentfully. 

“Well, when you’ve been in the agency game 
as long as he has, you’ll understand how these 
things work out,” returned Dingley. “All one 
has to do is to read between the lines to grasp 
the fact that the Morton-Myers company has had 
a part in separating Amendson from his job. 
This man Allen is an old Morton-Myers man. 
No doubt the Morton-Myers Company got the 
job for him. After a few weeks our contract with 
the Imperial Company will be canceled and the 
account taken over by Myers and his gang. Of 
course at the start Allen won’t concede that he 
is intending to change agencies. He’ll be very 
sweet to us and kid us along. But sooner or 
later he’ll begin a campaign of fault-finding. 
After that nothing we do is O.K. in his estima- 
260 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


tion. He won’t have any difficulty in convincing 
the executives of his company that there should 
be a change of agencies. Oh, I know ! I’ve seen 
it work out that way before. So has Evans. And 
he hates Myers like sin, having received a 
crooked deal at his hands when he worked for 
the Morton-Myers Company several years ago. 
That’s why he’s so worked up over the possibil- 
ity of our losing the Imperial account. He’d 
give a leg, I believe, to even scores with Myers.” 

When Mr. Rollins came in at nine o’clock he 
immediately sent for Dingley. The two were 
closeted for more than an hour. Then Dingley 
disconsolately came back to his desk and said 
to Andy: 

“The Boss is going out to the Imperial plant 
this morning, to assure Allen that he’ll get from 
our agency everything in the way of service that 
he can possibly require or desire. He has asked 
me to be unusually careful in every bit of work 
I do for the Imperial people. But it’s pretty 
much of a farce. He knows and I know that 
before the year ends we’ll be out in the cold as 
far as the Imperial account is concerned.” 

Andy was gripped with concern over the un- 
happy turn of events. He knew that the loss of 
261 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


the Imperial account would be felt throughout 
the organization, and a steely anger took root in 
his heart when he thought of Myers. By no 
means had he forgotten that memorable after- 
noon at the Forman Washing Machine Company 
plant. That he had lost the coveted quarter- 
million-dollar advertising contract to Myers was 
secondary in his unhappy recollection of the 
matter to the cynical, tolerant, superior consid- 
eration that he had received at Myers’ hands. 

“I wish we could even scores with Myers,” 
gritted Andy. “Maybe if we took a few of his 
best accounts away from him he wouldn’t be so 
cocky.” 

Dingley laughed nervously. 

“Fine! And now that we’ve decided to bell 
the cat, who’ll do it?” 

“I for one am going to think about it,” re- 
turned Andy grimly. 

“You’d better be thinking about those four- 
page-advertising circulars that you’re working 
on for the Ayer Planing Machine Company,” 
pointedly advised Dingley, going about his work 
dispiritedly. 

His injunction fell on deaf ears. Andy could 
not dismiss the matter from his thoughts. And 
262 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


shortly a determination grew up within him to 
give Myers a dose of his own medicine. How 
was he to do it? Andy hardly knew. But it 
seemed to him that the quarter-million-dollar 
Forman contract represented a vulnerable point 
of attack. Andy’s loyalty to Rollins & Hatch 
was supreme ; and in matters having to do with 
the creation of effective advertising he had the 
conviction that the company he worked for was 
just a little bit ahead of all the other agencies 
in the field. He was confident that with the 
facilities of the Rollins & Hatch organization to 
draw on, he could produce vastly better work 
than any member of the Morton-Myers agency. 
Surely the advertising manager of the Forman 
Washing Machine Company would sit up and 
take notice if a Rollins & Hatch representative 
came to him with a superior campaign. Arriv- 
ing at this point in his analysis, Andy had no 
difficulty in happily visualizing the Forman 
company severing business relations with Mor- 
ton-Myers. 

That morning Andy put in all his time round- 
ing out a campaign built around the Forman 
washing machine. He diagramed the Forman 
marketing plan, starting with the factory and 
263 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

reaching the consumer through the dealer. He 
roughly outlined a series of technical advertise- 
ments to appear in trade magazines going di- 
rectly to dealers and jobbers. It was the purpose 
of this advertising to “sell” the dealer on the in- 
tegrity of the Forman institution and product 
and make him want to handle the Forman washer 
in preference to all other washers. Andy also 
planned a series of advertisements to reach the 
public through the pages of national magazines. 
These were of a nature to create interest in the 
Forman washer as a household necessity, build- 
ing up in the mind of the reader the desire to own 
one and a determination to investigate the For- 
man washer through the local dealer. Then, too, 
Andy planned advertisements and folders for the 
dealer’s use in local newspaper and direct-by- 
mail campaigns. Carried along on the high tide 
of inspiration, he even fashioned a window dis- 
play, with a Forman washer in the foreground 
in charge of a trim, blue-eyed young matron who 
appeared very happy in the knowledge that her 
laundry troubles were a thing of the past. The 
work was extremely fascinating and the time 
passed rapidly. Andy could hardly believe his 
ears when the “dismissal” sounded for lunch. 

264 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

Upon returning to the office after lunch, he 
reluctantly laid aside the work and got out his 
“Ayer” data. For a time he found it difficult to 
concentrate on the Ayer Company circulars. 
Then he grimly gave the matter his complete at- 
tention and worked feverishly throughout the 
balance of the day. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


In the days that followed every spare minute 
of Andy’s time was taken up. He was anxious 
to complete the Forman campaign, and gave it 
much attention outside of his regular hours. Yet 
he didn’t neglect his school work at the Y.M. 
C.A. This took four nights a week. It was not 
always pleasant for Andy to put in his days in 
the office and his evenings at school, but he real- 
ized the need of the school training and grimly 
carried through week after week without missing 
a recitation. 

One Sunday afternoon Andy went to the office 
to do some work on the Forman campaign and 
while he was thus engaged a door slammed be- 
hind him. Turning quickly he found himself 
looking into the stormy face of Evans, the art 
director. Andy was momentarily dismayed. He 
happened to be using Evans’ bench at the time, 
attempting to illustrate in colors one of the 
washing machine folders. 

“So it’s you who’s been messing around in 
266 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


here, is it?” demanded the artist. Angrily, he 
set to rights the brushes and paints that Andy 
had been using. There followed an uncomfort- 
able silence. Then Evans demanded, “Don’t you 
get enough work during the week?” 

There seemed to Andy nothing to do but to 
truthfully explain why he was in the art depart- 
ment, which he did falteringly. When he fin- 
ished Evans regarded him with a peculiar ex- 
pression and said: 

“You must have a pretty good opinion of your- 
self — thinking that you can go down to Cobart 
with a half-baked marketing campaign and get 
the Forman company to cancel with Morton- 
Myers.” 

“Well, I can try,” gritted Andy. 

“You can try! Bah! What if you fail? I 
suppose you never thought of that. And how can 
you hope to succeed with a drawing like that? 
It looks as much like a washing machine as some 
of the pictures my three-year-old kid draws of 
the cat.” 

“I don’t pretend to be an artist,” flared Andy 
with hot cheeks. 

“Of course not ! It takes brains to sling paint. 
Hand over that drawing!” 

267 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“What are you going to do with it?” 

“Do with it? Why, Fm going to make it look 
like something. Come! Fork it oyer!” 

The afternoon waned and dusk settled in as 
between Evans and Andy a strange comradeship 
developed. In the silence of the vacated offices, 
the two seemed drawn very closely together. 
Andy found himself telling the artist things he 
never would have had the courage to mention 
under ordinary circumstances. He outlined his 
campaign in detail. Evans seemed gripped with 
interest and offered many helpful suggestions. 
The two seemingly forgot that it was getting late. 
When Evans laid aside his brushes the clock 
pointed to eleven-thirty. On the instant the 
artist lost all interest in the work and became 
cold and uncompanionable. He gruffly got into 
his overcoat and left the office. Andy, though, 
didn’t seem to mind the discourtesy. He was 
happy in having had a glimpse into Evans’ heart 
at a time when it pulsed with warmth and 
friendliness. 

Christmas was almost at hand when Andy’s 
campaign was completed. Each advertisement 
was laid out neatly, the copy written, and the 
purpose of each advertising piece given in his 
268 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


marketing chart. Following the Sunday when 
Evans had surprised Andy in the art depart- 
ment, the two had put in many hours together. 
Into the illustrations that the artist prepared 
went some of his most inspirational work. Once 
Andy thanked the man, but Evans bluntly re- 
turned, “Don’t kid yourself, Blake. I’m not 
doing it for you. I have a reason.” Anger 
glowed in the depths of the artist’s eyes and 
Andy knew that the man was thinking of Myers. 

With the campaign completed, a vague un- 
easiness settled over Andy. Now that he had 
the campaign on his hands, what was he going 
to do with it? Should he ask Mr. Rollins to let 
him, Andy, go to Cobart and present the cam- 
paign to Whitley, the advertising manager of the 
Forman Washing Machine Company? That was 
in line with what he had intended doing. What 
would be Mr. Rollins’ reaction and Mr. Whit- 
ley’s? Andy trembled as with a sudden chill as 
the thought came to him that things might not 
turn out as he wanted them to. His cheeks 
burned as he remembered how he had failed 
miserably in his previous attempt to land the 
Forman contract. He was strongly tempted to 
protect himself from disaster by destroying the 
269 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


whole campaign. But that would never do! 
There was Evans to reckon with. One morning 
when the turmoil in Andy’s mind was at flood 
height, the artist stopped him and grimly de- 
manded, ‘‘Well, when are you going to Cobart? 
Getting cold feet?” Andy felt trapped and sick 
at heart. Oh, what a treacherous structure he 
had built around himself! A grayness settled 
about his mouth as he mumbled a meaningless 
reply and hid himself from Evans’ eyes by enter- 
ing his offlce and closing the door. 

Finally he plucked up courage and approached 
Mr. Rollins. The executive was busy and visibly 
worried. He looked surprised at Andy’s request 
and gave a hasty glance at the sheaf of material 
in Andy’s hand. 

“Haven’t time just now to go through it, 
Blake,” he said rather brusquely. He may have 
observed the downcast expression on Andy’s face 
as the boy turned away, because he added, “What- 
ever your scheme is, it can’t do any worse than 
fail. If you want to tackle it, go to it.” 

Andy’s face brightened. It was a chance, even 
if Mr. Rollins clearly had no great faith or in- 
terest in it. He hurried out of the room. 

Then a very dynamic thing happened — a thing 
270 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


that tempted Andy to feel that he was under 
the special protection of a divine Providence. 

“Andy, 1 believe I have some good news for 
you,” Mr. Ayer told him over the telephone one 
morning a few days before Christmas. 

“Fm listening with both ears,” Andy returned. 

“I was down to Cobart yesterday helping Tim- 
mons, the superintendent of the Forman Wash- 
ing Machine Company, to rig up an attachment 
for one of his surfacers. Just before leaving the 
plant I had a talk with Mr. Forman. It seems 
that advertisement we ran in The Woodworker , 
featuring their company as a user of our sur- 
facers, created a great deal of favorable com- 
ment. Several of their dealers wrote in for 
copies of the ad to place in their display win- 
dows. That is how I came to be talking ‘adver- 
tising’ with Mr. Forman. He remembers you, 
Andy. He told me he was having serious trou- 
ble with the Morton-Myers agency and intended 
canceling his contract with them. I took this as 
a cue to boost your game all I could. I don’t 
know how well prepared you are to go down 
there and sell them on connecting with your 
agency, but I believe if you are in any measure 
prepared you stand a good chance of getting the 
271 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


contract. Thought Fd tell you about it, Andy, 
because Dick has told me something of the dis- 
appointment you had on your other trip to 
Cobart. If I can help, you know Fll do what 
I can. What’s that?” 

“I — I’m dazed,” cried Andy, wildly happy 
under the turn of events. “Am I prepared? 
Oh, boy! Thanks a thousand times for calling 
me. I’m going after that contract to-morrow 
and I’m going to get it.” 

Andy deliberated as to whether or not he 
should tell Dingley of his intended trip to 
Cobart. Mr. Rollins had said, “If you want to 
tackle it, go to it.” He finally decided to keep 
his own counsel, letting no one know of his plans 
except Evans. He would work the day through, 
then take an evening train to Cobart. During 
the noon hour he wired the Cobart Hotel for a 
reservation, then rode out to Forest Street and 
packed his bag, bringing it to the office. His 
train left at five-fifteen, and at four-forty-five 
he left the office when Dingley was not in sight. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


As Andy approached the Forman plant the 
following morning, the familiar sound of an Ayer 
surfacer smote his ears as on a previous occa- 
sion and he tingled with happiness. For a 
moment he felt prompted first to pay his respects 
to Timmons, the superintendent; then he re- 
quested the information clerk to send in his name 
to Mr. Whitley, the advertising manager. 

Possibly Whitley was surprised when he 
stepped into the lobby and greeted Andy. Cer- 
tainly a peculiar expression came into his eyes 
as they gripped hands. He invited Andy into 
his office, and when they were seated Andy be- 
gan gravely : 

“I suppose you’re wondering why I’m here, 
Mr. Whitley. Possibly I can better explain my 
position by referring to my last visit to this 
office. I don’t know what you thought of me that 
day — I know, though, what I thought of myself. 
I acted like a frightened kid. The thing that 
distressed me the most was the thought that 
273 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


you might judge the caliber of the Rollins & 
Hatch organization by my unbusinesslike con- 
duct. 

“Maybe you know how a fellow feels when 
he’s licked. If so, you know just how I felt 
that day. I was licked good and plenty. And 
there has hardly been a day since when I haven’t 
longed for an opportunity to vindicate myself 
and bring you to realize that I had something 
to sell you that day that no other agency had. 
I simply wasn’t man enough to put it over, that’s 
all. I hope I’ll be more fortunate to-day.” 

In the hour that followed, Andy and the ad- 
vertising manager reviewed the campaign in de- 
tail. Then Mr. Forman came in and the 
campaign was presented to him. There was no 
mistaking the interest of the two executives. In 
the course of the morning they left Andy alone 
in the office while they discussed the matter in 
an intimate way in Mr. Forman’s office. When 
they returned Whitley said : 

“We’re mightily interested in your campaign 
and in what you have told us, Mr. Blake. 
Though you haven’t mentioned it, I imagine you 
know without me telling you that late yesterday 
we canceled our contract with the Morton- 
274 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


Myers agency. It might interest you to know 
why, but I do not feel that it is important that 
I tell you. We are not interested in what hasn’t 
been done, but in what can be done. I may say 
we have confidence in you and your company. 
Even if you had not come to us voluntarily we 
should have gotten in touch with your Mr. 
Rollins. Suppose we regard this matter from 
a highly formal angle and talk terms. Have 
you one of your contract forms with you?” 

Andy spent practically the entire day at the 
Forman plant. The afternoon had faded into 
dusk when he and Whitley came out of the office 
and headed uptown. 

When Andy appeared at the Rollins & Hatch 
office the following morning, he sensed a certain 
feeling of suppressed excitement in the atmos- 
phere. He proceeded at once to his office to 
inquire of Dingley the cause of this. Instead of 
Dingley, he found himself facing Evans. The 
latter regarded Andy searchingly, his eyes nar- 
rowed, his shaggy eyebrows contracted. He 
seemed stiff and tense in every muscle. 

“Well?” he demanded, the words coming from 
between clenched teeth. 

275 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


“I’ve got it!” returned Andy with sparkling 
eyes.” 

“With you, or got it coming?” 

“Eve got it right here in my pocket.” 

“Good boy!” said the artist concisely. With- 
out another word he turned on his heel and left 
the room. Andy smiled. That was Evans’ way ; 
Andy understood him now. He knew that the 
word and look of approval from Evans meant 
much. 

Upon the exit of Evans, Dingley tumbled into 
the office. 

“Wflat’s the rip?” he demanded in high spirits. 
“Lay off yesterday to get married?” 

“I was out of the city on business,” returned 
Andy. 

“Well, you missed some excitement. Oh, boy ! 
The news reached us late yesterday afternoon 
that the Forman Washing Machine Company 
have canceled with the Morton-Myers agency. 
Sweet doctor ! Won’t it be great if Mr. Rollins 
lands that quarter-million-dollar contract? 
That sure will give Myers a crimp. And Evans? 
Say, the old boy will just naturally turn a flip- 
flop!” 

Just then Mr. Rollins sent word to Andy 
276 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 

through Miss Manning to come into his office. 
Even the general manager seemed to share a 
little in the general excitement. 

“You’ve been working on some sort of a 
scheme for landing Forman, haven't you, Blake? 
Let’s see what you’ve done about it.” 

From his pocket Andy produced the contract. 
With hands that suddenly trembled he gave it to 
his employer. There was an intense stillness as 
Mr. Rollins unfolded the paper. It seemed to 
hold his attention for a long time. Once he 
made a sound as though something in his throat 
distressed him. Then without a word he slowly 
placed the contract on his desk and walked to the 
window, seemingly absorbed in watching the 
snowflakes fluttering earthward from out a 
leaden December sky. At length he turned to 
Andy and said simply: 

“Blake, you’ve taken my breath away. I — I 
don’t know what to — say. What you have done 
is splendid!” 

Andy was too happy to make any coherent re- 
ply and Mr. Rollins went on : 

“I needn’t try to express my appreciation for 
what you have done on this as on the Ayer ac- 
count. We shall not forget it. And now there 
277 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


is another matter I must take up with you. Mr. 
Ayer is a personal friend of mine. Last evening 
I had dinner with him. He has asked me to re- 
lease you, Blake. He wants to take you into his 
organization and place you in direct charge of 
his sales and advertising work. It will be an 
exceptionally responsible position for one so 
young as you are. And Fm not certain that the 
older salesmen will accept the new order of 
things in the right spirit. But Mr. Ayer seems 
satisfied that you are the man he wants. I as- 
sured him I would leave it entirely up to you. 
He probably will start you in at three thousand 
a year. I shall be unhappy in losing you, but 
I do not want to stand in the way of your ad- 
vancement.” 

For a moment Andy was dazed. In a vague 
way he realized that to be sales and advertising 
manager of the Ayer Planing Machine Company 
was no mean job. Small wonder that a pleasur- 
able thrill passed over him. 

Then his moment of supreme happiness died 
as the thought came to him that to accept the 
position would necessitate his severing connec- 
tions with the Rollins & Hatch organization. In 
the agency he was in touch with a great many 
278 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


angles of industry. As a member of the Ayer 
company he would have but one definite prob- 
lem on his mind. Would he be content to limit 
his activities to one line? Did he want to do it? 
At length he slowly inquired? 

“Is it your wish that I accept this position, 
Mr. Rollins ?” 

“I would rather not have you put it that way, 
Blake.” 

“Then if it is left entirely to me, I guess I’d 
rather remain here,” Andy decided. “I’ve so 
much to learn about business — and I will have a 
better chance of learning it here. Besides, I 
have nearly two years ahead of me at the Y.M. 
C.A. It would be considerable glory for me to 
hold such a responsible position. But I’d rather 
have the glory wait till I’m better prepared.” 

“That’s what I wanted you to say, Blake. 
Like you, 1 feel that you have not sufficient ex- 
perience. You probably could hold down the 
position in good shape — you might even make 
a big success of the work — but always, all 
through your business life, you would be han- 
dicapped by your limited knowledge of things. 
I’m going to see Mr. Ayer to-morrow and I’ll 
tell him of your decision. By the way, Blake, 
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ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


my calendar tells me that to-morrow is Christ- 
mas.” 

“Yes, indeed !” cried Andy happily. “And Fm 
going to be home with Mother. I suppose it’s 
silly, but on Christmas Eve I always hang up 
my socks, just as I did my stockings when I was 
a kid. Mother likes to have me do that. And 
when I get up in the morning I make an awful 
fuss over the things I find. Fm going down to 
Cressfield to-night on a late train. It’s going to 
be a wonderful Christmas, sir !” 

“I know just how you feel,” said Mr. Rollins, 
a light of happy reminiscence showing in his 
kindly eyes. He crossed to the great mahogany 
desk and took a paper from his filing basket. 

“Here is the copy of a note I dictated yester- 
day to our auditor,” said he simply. “As you 
read it you will see that it is a request from me 
that you be paid fifty dollars a week beginning 
with the first of the new year. A sort of Christ- 
mas present from the company, Blake. But 
you’ve earned it.” 

That evening on the train to Cressfield, Andy 
lost himself in happy reflection as he watched 
the headlight of the locomotive piercing the 
darkness, the fire from the smokestack shedding 
280 


ANDY BLAKE IN ADVERTISING 


a ruddy glow over the mantle of snow that lay 
on the fields and hillsides. It seemed to him 
that the wheels were singing: “Keep it up, 
Andy Blake! Keep it up, Andy Blake! Keep 
it up, Andy Blake!” 

He pictured himself standing on the threshold 
of Opportunity. Everything that a man holds 
dear in a business way lay ahead of him — suc- 
cess, achievement, wealth, happiness. The fu- 
ture was his to shape as he saw fit. 

“Yes, IT1 keep it up,” he murmured. 


(i) 


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